Two Geeks in Love
by psionicchef
Summary: She still couldn't believe that, in a splitsecond decision, she had backed Dana Fairbanks against the lockers and kissed her. Right on the lips. Twice.
1. Chapter 1

**Two Geeks in Love**

**Disclaimer:** "The L word" and its characters don't belong to me. They are property of their respective producers Ilene Chaiken and the broadcasting company Showtime.

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**Chapter one: First kisses**

"God, you're such a dork. Such a dork.", Lara Perkins silently scolded herself in her mind, repeating the words over and over again. She still couldn't believe what had just happened in that locker room a few minutes ago, as she sat in her car, eyes closed, trying to regain composure. She still couldn't believe that, in a split-second decision, she had backed Dana Fairbanks against the lockers and kissed her. Right on the lips. Twice.

"Just in case you were still wondering..." Her own words were ringing in her ears. The redhead wasn't even sure anymore if Dana Fairbanks had been wondering at all. If she had been wondering about her, Lara Perkins, being gay. Then again, there had been these four women, seemingly Dana's friends, coming to the country club the day before and Lara had been convinced that they were checking her out, from head to toe, which had ultimately led to her kissing Dana, being sure the other woman was interested. And just a few moments ago the sous chef could have sworn that the athlete had kissed her back, if only softly. But now, sitting in the silence of her car, she wasn't even sure about that.

Lara let out a low growl, her voice filled with frustration and desire. She could still feel the faint taste of the tennis player's lips on her own and her nostrils were filled with the scent of freshly showered hair and skin. To make matters even worse for the already confused woman, her mind kept picturing images of the post-kiss Dana, her eyes and mouth half closed, her face flustered, simply looking incredibly sexy and willing for Lara to continue...

"Fuck, Lara, get a grip.", she scolded herself, this time saying the words out loud. She had never thought that a simple kiss or two could turn her into a total wreck. Shaking her thoughts involving the locker room kiss aside for a moment, the redhead turned the ignition and drove home.

As soon as the door to her apartment fell into its lock, Lara let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Carelessly dropping the bag used to transport her smudged chef uniforms with into the hallway, she made her way to the bathroom. As she met her own gaze in the mirror, she realized, not really surprised, that her usually bright blue eyes had darkened some nuances into dark blue, nearly black.

During the whole drive home, the sous chef hadn't been able to stop herself from fantasizing what would have happened, if... If she hadn't pulled away from the brunette, if they had deepened the kiss, if... The worst thing that could have happened was Dana completely freaking out, telling her to leave her the fuck alone, maybe even attacking her, but this scenario had been left out by her mind. Instead each and every fantasy had somehow ended up with the two women having sex. And now, standing in her bathroom, Lara was paying the price for her vivid imagination. She was aroused and needed relief. Right there and then.

Closing her eyes, she could almost feel a pair of arms slipping around her waist, followed by a female body pressing itself into her back at full lenght.

"I want you so bad, Lara.", a voice laced with heat whispered these words into the sous chef's ears, caressing her skin with hot breath. Lara's eyes flew open and she spinned around, almost expecting Dana to stand behind her.

"Stop fucking with my head.", groaned the frustrated redhead, realizing that the touches and the voice had only been products of her way too vivid imagination.

She had never experienced such intense feelings before in her life and now she was feeling as if her feelings towards the tennis player were slowly beginning to make her lose her sanity. Since she had first laid eyes on the brunette a month or two ago, Lara was finding herself falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

It had been around the time when she had been promoted sous chef at the country club, after one of the other sous chefs-who Lara had liked very much-left to take a new job at some five star restaurant in San Francisco. Lara had been completely surprised by the promotion offer, having only worked at the country club for about two and a half years at that time. Now she was glad for having accepted the offer as it gave her the chance to be in closer touch with the customers...and Dana.

The first time Dana had walked into the dining area of the club -the chef recalled having been chopping parsley- all sweaty from her training, it had hit Lara out of nowhere and she had found herself unable to keep her eyes-and later on her thoughts-off of the athlete the whole day. A few days later she had started sending food to Dana's table, always making sure it contained nothing heavy that would mess with her training.

"Tell her it's on the house.", she had always ordered the waiters, never giving away her name-until recently.

"And see what it has led you to, Lara.", the redhead snapped at her reflection in the mirror.

Letting out a helpless sigh, Lara pulled herself away from the mirror and walked into the small, but nevertheless cozy living room, where she plopped rather ungracefully onto the couch.

"Where is that damn remote again?", she cursed, fumbling for said remote that used to frequently disappear-much to Lara's annoyance. When she finally found the remote underneath some unfinished books on the floor-she didn't even know how the books had ended up there-the chef made herself comfortable on the couch, stretching her tall body to its full lenght and started zapping through the various channels, not really finding anything that caught her interest, which gave her bored mind a chance to wander off to a particular tennis player. Try as she might, the redhead couldn't shake the images out of her head and, giving a sigh laced with heat, finally gave in. She recalled the scent of Dana's freshly showered skin and the feeling of her lips on hers and closed her eyes briefly. As soon as she opened them again, there was Dana kneeing above her, a seductive grin on her lips.

"I want you so bad, Lara.", she repeated her words from the bathroom, sending a shiver down the sous chef's body.

"You're totally losing it, Lara.", the chef thought to herself. "She's not even here. It's just your mind playing some sick trick on you.", she tried to reason with herself, but part of her knew it was totally useless.

"I want you so bad, Lara.", the imagined Dana whispered again, her voice even lower than before.

Running her hands down to the zipper of her jeans, Lara closed her eyes again. Arching her back off of the couch, she eased the jeans off her legs and tossed them to the floor.

"I want you so bad, Lara.", Dana's voice said again.

Lara smiled, as she moved one hand under her red tank top up to her breasts and the other hand into her panties.

"You want me, Dana?", the redhead whispered, her hand starting to rub her clit softly. "Then come and take me, I'm all yours."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: Kitchen encounter**

Lara carefully examined the fresh wound on her little finger and shot a dirty look at the object that had caused her the pain. The electric can opener stood there on the counter as if nothing had happened. Thankfully the cut wasn't too deep, but it hurt nevertheless. The chef reached into the pocket of her chef's uniform where she kept her band aids, just in case.

Lara had known that this day wasn't going to be her day from the moment she had woken up on her couch, still in her tank top and panties from the night before, covered in dried sweat. One glance at her wristwatch had told her she had overslept. She had taken a hurried shower, thrown some clothes on herself, packed some clean uniforms into her bag and hurried out the door. And now, here she was, in the country club's kitchen, looking at the fingers on her left hand-save for the thumb-being wrapped up in tight rubber to protect the wounds from potential infections. The redhead was used to injuring herself at work. In fact, it happened quite frequently and so the rest of the kitchen staff hardly paid any attention to their sous chef's cursing. Recently those incidents were occuring more often, thanks to a certain hot tennis player Lara couldn't stop thinking about. Having taken care of the newest wound, the sous chef checked what else needed to be prepared for lunch time and later on dinner.

"Sliced peepers, lettuce (cleaned)...", it read on the list. Deciding that would keep her occupied for quite some time, and thus away from thinking about Dana, Lara wandered off to the storage room to get the required peppers.

A little while later the pile of sliced pepper had grown in size and the redhead found herself running out of peppers.

"Palmira, could you get me some more of these peppers, while I go to clean the lettuce?", she addressed one of the line cooks.

"Sure, Lara.", the other woman simply answered and went to follow the chef's request.

While her hands were busy cleaning the fresh lettuce, Lara allowed her mind to relive last night's events, starting with the locker room kisses, and found that she was able to stay relatively calm when thinking about these rather intense experiences, due to the fact that she had gotten most of the sexual tension threatening to overwhelm her out of her system. A small smile found its way on the sous chef's lips as she thought of the object of her affection and she quickly wondered if Dana would come to have her lunch at the club after what had happened the other night.

"She will show up, Lara.", she reassured herself. "After all, she did kiss you back, didn't she?"

Lara took the box with the now cleaned lettuce and made her way back to her working station, where the peppers were already waiting for her return. Letting out a small sigh, she put the lettuce down, picked up her chopping knife and returned to slicing the peppers.

"Hey!"

The sudden, unexpected sound of a familiar voice startled Lara. She quickly turned her head in the voice's direction and couldn't help but smile widely at the person who stood in front of her, while her heartbeat quickened notably.

"Hey!", she greeted back, still not able to stop smiling.

Suddenly a stinging pain shot through her body and she dropped the knife, wincing in pain.

"Stupid, Lara, you're just so stupid.", she cursed herself in her thoughts, while looking at her bleeding thumb. "Why the hell did you keep on chopping the peppers while talking to Dana? You know that you can't concentrate when she's around and now you made a total fool of yourself in front of her."

"Jesus, you're disfigured!", Dana nearly screamed, sounding totally worried about the chef's condition.

Lara shook her head. "I'm not disfigured." She was amazed at how much the tennis player seemed to care about her.

"But I could have killed you when you were, you know...", Dana rambled on, while moving her head up and down, imitating the chopping movements.

"It happens all the time.", the redhead said, trying to calm Dana down, while she wrapped her thumb up in tight rubber.

"But should we call a doctor?", the tennis player asked, still staring at the injured thumb.

"Dana!" Lara couldn't help but chuckle at Dana's exaggerated worry about a small cut on her thumb. She found it insanely cute and felt the need to show her that those kind of injuries came with her work.

"Second degree burn from béchamel sauce...", she said, holding up her left hand and wriggling her index finger a little, so that the brunette would know which one she was talking about.

It had happened the other day, right after she had gotten back from changing her chef's uniform. She had been so nervous because of the unexpected encounter with her secret crush that she hadn't been able to concentrate on what she was doing with the ladle and had somehow ended up burning her finger.

"...runaway shish-kebab..."

This one had happened this morning, although Lara had no idea how the skewer had ended up in her middle finger, probably lack of concentration again and a rather great amount of clumsiness.

"...an attack of an extreme hostile life lobster..."

Also happened the other day, early in the morning. This one hadn't been her fault. Lara winced, remembering the pain that had flooded her whole being when that lobster had grasped her ring finger in its claws.

...and, um, electric can opener."

This one had happened not that long ago and still hurt a little.

The redhead shook her head slightly, not believing her own clumsiness, as she watched Dana. The tennis player's eyes were still glued to the wounded fingers that were on display, but they returned to Lara's the moment the chef dropped her hand again.

"Is there anything I can do?", Dana asked, obviously trying ease her own awkwardness.

Lara grinned at that. "You could kiss it and make it better.", she suggested and watched the blush creeping up the athlete's face.

As the smaller woman averted her eyes to hide her obvious embarrassment, Lara couldn't help but fall in love with her even more. She found herself totally drawn to how timid and shy the athlete was around her and resisted the sudden urge to kiss her right there. Meanwhile Dana seemed to be struggling to regain her composure. She took a deep breath and then another, before she lifted her eyes again to lock them with the sous chef's.

"I was wondering if maybe sometime...", she started her little speech, but was cut off mid-sentence by Lara, who had figured where this was leading and hadn't been able to suppress her anticipation.

"I would love to."

Then there was a pause. Neither woman said a word, they just looked into each other's eyes, Lara trying to assure Dana that she was serious.

"Really?", the brunette broke the silence, still looking for confirmation in Lara's eyes.

The sous chef simply nodded, the smile on her face being replaced by the most serious look she could muster.

"Really?", Dana asked again, her whole face lighting up at the chef's wordless answer.

It seemed to Lara as if a huge weight had been lifted off of the tennis player's shoulders, all the tension that had engulfed her suddenly being gone.

"Is thursday night okay?", the brunette asked, a huge smile playing on her features.

The sous chef thought for a second, turning her eyes away from the other woman. She didn't have to work on thursday, so that would be just perfect. "Thursday night is great.", she said then, returning to look into Dana's sparkling eyes again, finding it impossible not to smile giddily.

"Where do you wanna go?"

The redhead couldn't care less about where they'd be going, all that mattered to her was that they would be going out.

"Anywhere you're going.", she said with a smile.

"Yeah, but you're a food's person. So I wanna take you someplace really good.", Dana told her and paused for just a moment. "Like L'Orangerie.", she suggested then.

Lara knew that place. It was totally upper-class and had the best reputation-a dream for every chef to work at-but way too exquisite for a first date.

"No. No, no...that's way too expensive.", Lara answered, sounding rather alarmed at Dana's suggestion.

"I know. I'll take care of it.", Dana stated somewhat matter-of-factly, seemingly wanting to go to L'Orangerie.

As much as she appreciated the offer, Lara didn't want the athlete to be paying for her dinner. She hadn't needed any kind of financial support since she was living on her own and she had no intention of starting it now. If there was going to be a relationship with Dana-and the sous chef really wanted there to be-she wanted them to be equal partners.

"We're not starting out that way.", was all she said, closing the subject.

Another short silence evolved between them, both women turning their gazes away from each other, thinking of some other place to have their date at.

"Umm..." This time Lara broke the silence, facing Dana again. "There's...there's this little place in Korea Town that I've been dying to check out.", she suggested to the other woman who seemed to stick to her words, nodding to every word leaving the chef's lips.

"Do I need to make a reservation?", the tennis player asked, seemingly nervous once again.

The redhead's smile broadened at the prospect of a date with the woman in front of her.

"How about if I take care of that part and you just pick me up at eight?", she asked, tilting her head to the right while speaking.

Dana's face lit up once again, smiling the most beautiful smile Lara had ever seen, making the sous chef melt at her knees.

"Okay.", Dana said, her smile broadening.

"Okay.", Lara said.

"Okay.", Dana said once again, sighing in relief.

"Okay.", Lara repeated, her voice barely audible.

"Okay, bye."

With that the tennis player turned around and started to make her way out of the busy kitchen. But before she could completely disappear, Lara called after her. Dana spun around and eyed the sous chef questioningly.

"Thanks for asking me out.", Lara told her.

Dana grinned at that.

"Oh, yeah. No problem.", she said, trying to sound all cool.

The two women continued to smile at each other, while Dana was walking backwards. Caught in each other's eyes, neither of them noticed the waiter approaching from behind and so Dana collided with the man. She gave a quick apology and retreated from the kitchen, leaving Lara in a state of pure anticipation. Biting her bottom lip to keep the goofy grin off her face, the redhead returned to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: Overdressed**

The date had been set in the late saturday morning and the remaining five days had seemed to last forever, much to her displeasure. But now thursday had arrived, finally, and so had Lara's nervousness.

Throwing a quick glance at her bedside clock, she saw that she had two other hours until eight o'clock, two hours until Dana would pick her up. Lara sighed, letting herself fall backwards onto the bed.

"Just two more hours and I'll see Dana again.", she told herself, unable to keep a grin from her lips.

Another sigh escaped her lips and the sous chef rolled onto her left, facing her opened wardrobe. She got up slowly and walked towards the wardrobe.

"So many clothes and you can't find anything to wear.", Lara muttered to herself as she started going through her clothes again.

It had to be something sexy, something that would catch Dana's eyes and keep them on her, but not too sexy, since that would probably only serve to scare the tennis player and turn her into a nervous wreck all the more.

"Sexy, yet not too sexy.", the redhead thought. "Casual, yet not too casual."

Lara kept rummaging through the wardrobe, not finding anything that pleased her. She tried to imagine what Dana would be wearing, when her hands came across the soft material of a yellow sundress.

"I think that will do."

A while later the sous chef-now showered and dressed in the yellow sundress, her red hair pulled up into a bun-was nervously pacing back and forth in her living room. Dana would arrive any second now-she had given the brunette her address scribbled on a napkin, along with another free plate of grilled vegetables the same saturday the date had been set on. Lara could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't remember having ever been that nervous before, not even on her first day of school. She tried to take some calming breaths, but to no avail, the butterflies in her stomach just wouldn't go away. The sudden sound of the buzzer made her jump out of her skin.

"She's here."

The chef practically flew to the door, checking her appearance one last time.

"I'll be right down.", she told Dana via intercom, grabbed her purse and walked out of her apartment, only a few steps separating her from the sight of a certain tennis player.

Lara felt the knot forming in the back of her throat grow bigger and bigger the closer she came to the front door. As she walked down the stairs, she could see the blurred silhouette of another person through the door's pane, Dana's silhouette. Reaching the front door and taking the doorknob into her shaking hand, she stopped to take some last calming breaths, trying to ease her own nervousness.

"Here we go, Lara.", she said out loud to encourage herself, as she finally turned the doorknob.

As she stepped outside, the cool evening air brushed the exposed skin of her shoulders, lightly caressing it. Lara took a deep breath and looked around for her date. Dana stood on the last step of the small staircase leading up to the entrance, looking up at her, obviously amazed by the sight of the chef. She was wearing a simple white blouse and plain, not patterned pants, looking simply gorgeous. Suddenly Lara felt way overdressed.

"I overdressed.", she said, sounding somewhat defeated.

Dana's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No...no...", Dana started, but didn't seem to find the words.

"God, I feel like such a geek.", Lara said, turning her eyes away from Dana and scratching her forehead in frustration-something she always did when she was embarrassed. A habit she couldn't shake.

"No, no...", the tennis player started again, while Lara silently wished for the ground to open up and swallow her. "Uh...umm...my friends made me wear this.", Dana confessed, breaking the short silence that had developped between the two.

The sous chef raised her head again, looking at the other woman in utter confusion, a little amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"What?", she asked.

"My friends said that...", the athlete stammered. "They thought that you would think I was a geek if, you know, if...if I wore a dress.", Dana explained, her voice trailing off as she finished.

Lara couldn't believe how adorably cute and shy the other woman seemed to get whenever they met. The smile that had been lingering at the corner of her mouth grew wider as she watched Dana's nervous smile.

"So I am a geek.", Lara simply stated, trying to ease the nervous tension between them.

"No, I'm a geek.", the brunette said, while eyeing the sous chef with a somewhat apologetic look on her face. "...for letting me friends tell me what to wear...", she added, turning her head away.

"Well, I could go change.", Lara suggested, gesturing towards the front door. "So, you don't feel so geeky."

She felt like she had to do anything possible to calm the tennis player's nerves down. She wanted Dana to be able to enjoy their date, instead of being as self-conscious as she was.

"No, you look beautiful.", Dana said, seemingly not noticing the compliment she had payed on the redhead.

Lara felt her heart starting to beat even faster at Dana's words. The other woman had said it as if she would say it all the time, but Lara knew Dana really meant these words with all her heart. They had escaped the tennis player's lips so fast, she couldn't have been thinking about them. The sous chef couldn't help but smile broadly at her date, feeling her affection for the shy brunette grow deeper and deeper and as Dana kept rambling on at how totally geeky she was being, Lara descended the few steps to stop her flow of words by softly kissing her on the lips. As their lips met, the chef herself felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her, a comforting calmness suddenly warming her from inside out, and she figured Dana felt the same.

Lara broke the kiss, slowly pulling away from the athlete, who was rather reluctant to break their contact already, as she was moving her head along with Lara's. Finally, the liplock was broken and Lara found herself staring at the other woman. The way Dana looked at her reminded her of the first kiss they had shared.

"She's so beautiful.", the redhead thought to herself. "If she looks like that everytime we kiss I could make it a new habit of mine." Smiling at her own thoughts Lara suggested that they'd go, linking her arm with Dana's as the made their way to Dana's car.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: The Date**

"So, Lara, how did you know?", Dana inquired, finishing her meal and putting down her fork. "I mean, how did you know my friends were trying to determine your gayness?"

Lara had to grin at the memory of that particular event. It had been completely obvious to her that the four women wearing sunglasses each weren't usual customers from the second they had walked into the dining area. The redhead swallowed the last bites of her meal and continued to hold Dana's gaze.

"Well, you know, it wasn't really that difficult.", she said after a short silence, earning herself a surprised stare.

"What? Was it really that obvious?", Dana asked, sounding rather surprised.

Lara nodded. Taking a sip of her wine, she continued. "Actually, yes. It was. I mean, you know, there were those four women coming into the club together. So, naturally you would assume they are going to sit together. Then they suddenly split up and sat at three different tables, one of them at yours." The chef took another sip of wine and smiled. "May I add that the way they were dressed looked rather suspicious, too. So, of course my curiousity was peaked and I decided to keep an eye on them, you know, just in case..."

"In case of what?", Dana asked, while her gaze never left Lara's.

"Well, in case they were planning to raid the club.", Lara answered with a slight chuckle attached to her voice.

The tennis player grinned at the other woman's joke. "My friends would never do that.", she said in mock-indignation.

"I know, Dana.", Lara said, holding her hands up in defence. "Anyway, so I had decided to keep an eye on them and, you know, they weren't behaving like any usual customer would. They sat there, cell phones in hand, one of them writing things down, throwing glances my way all the time and I thought like, Did the head chef send spies after me to check if I'm doing my work right?" She let out a little chuckle. "But then there was that kiss, you know, totally blew the little cover they had and it wasn't as if you didn't do anything unsuspicious."

"Me?" The brunette stared at the sous chef with wide eyes. "What did I do?"

"Well, you totally tensed up when they walked in and those worried glances over your shoulder...I mean, I could tell that something was going on just from your behaviour..."

A shy smile crossed Dana features and she averted her eyes. "We weren't exactly subtle, were we?"

Lara shook her head, softly laughing. "Not exactly, no."

"But you totally made them think you were straight, you know."

"Did I?", the redhead asked, not really surprised, as it had been her intention to make Dana's friends believe she was straight. It had made the surprise for Dana even greater.

"Yes, you did. You know, you had like seven points for being straight and nine for being gay, but then they thought of the margin of error and decided to use the secret weapon.", Dana explained.

"The woman that tried to hit on me."

The athlete nodded her head. "Yeah, that was Shane. She's like the womanizer of our group, you know. But when you didn't react to her flirting with you at all, my friends decided you were one hundred percent straight and dropped the case and so did I...that is until you kissed me." Dana's face slightly blushed at the mention of their kiss. "God, Lara, you should have seen their faces when I told them about it.", she finished and started laughing.

Lara watched as Dana threw her head back while laughing, the small movement revealing the delicious flesh of her throat. She unconsciously licked her lips at that sight, feeling a sudden small wave of desire rush through her body, but she shook it off of her immediately. As Dana's laughter had died down, they continued their talk, only having eyes for each other.

--

They walked along the busy streets of Korea Town, hand in hand, enjoying each other's closeness. After they had left the restaurant-Dana had somehow managed to pay the bill herself, despite Lara's protests-the redhead had suggested to take a little walk before returning to the car and the athlete had willingly agreed.

"I still don't like the idea that you paid the whole bill yourself.", Lara confessed, while watching the people around them, a lot of them straight couples.

Dana chuckled. "Lara, come on. I asked you out, so I pay the bill. I don't get why you're so upset about this."

Lara could feel Dana's blue eyes watching her and turned her head to look at the smaller woman.

"Upset? I'm not upset.", she said, doing her worst pout, which earned her a laugh from Dana. "It's just that, you know, I don't like to be dependent on anyone."

At that Dana laughed even harder. "So, I pay one meal of yours and you think you're dependent on me?", she managed to get out.

For a second the chef pondered whether to be angry at the other woman, who seemed to be making fun of her, or not, but realizing that would most definitely kill the mood-and that really was the last thing she wanted to happen-she decided to let it go. After all, it really was her fault, but then again Dana had looked at her with those irresistible blue eyes, insisting on paying their meals and Lara had found herself giving in.

"Would you like me to be dependent on you?", the redhead asked in a rather seductive tone.

As soon as the question was asked a blush crept up Dana's face. Lara wondered how many times the tennis player was still going to blush that night and found herself once again terribly attracted to the other woman. Dana looked absolutely cute to her when she blushed.

"I don't know...", the brunette said, avoiding Lara's smiling eyes. "I mean, maybe, you know, in some way or another..."

The sous chef grinned at this, deciding to play some more. "Some way or another? I'm not sure I know what you mean.", she said, smiling playfully.

Suddenly Dana stopped dead in her tracks and let go of Lara's hand, causing Lara to stop walking as well. The redhead watched intently as the athlete stood in front of her, still not facing her. They stood like that for a few seconds, people passing by. When Dana lifted her head again she had a huge devilish grin on her lips.

"You know exactly what I mean, Lara.", she simply said, her voice deep and seductive.

This time it was Lara who blushed a deep crimson at the unexpected words, her blue eyes widening. The look on Dana's face combined with the sound of her voice and the way she had pronounced her name-with so much longing-was sending a shiver down the chef's spine. While Lara was still wondering about the sudden change in the tennis player's behaviour, said tennis player approached her and took her hand again.

"You should have seen your face just now.", Dana said, unable to contain her laughter. "So shocked and confused." She pulled the other woman along with her. "You know, you're not the only one that knows how to play this game, Lara."

Lara didn't respond. She simply walked along, holding Dana's hand in hers, feeling totally and utterly happy.

--

The drive back to Lara's place was spent in silence, neither woman wanting to break the comfortable atmosphere around them. Lara had spent the entire drive thinking of a way to expand the date without seeming too intrusive. This night had been the best Lara had had since a long time and she didn't want it to end just yet, but at the same time she didn't want to rush into things.

"Well, we're here.", Dana broke the silence, letting out a small sigh.

The redhead, being ripped out of her thoughts, looked up and around and realized that they had arrived at her place. Suddenly she was beginning to feel a slight sense of loss.

"Yeah, we're here.", she repeated Dana's words and unfastened her seatbelt rather reluctantly.

Another silence fell upon the two women, both of them not wanting to separate already.

"Umm, do you want me to walk you to the door?", Dana asked, when Lara was about to get out of the car.

The sous chef stopped in her tracks and turned to the other woman, a smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah, sure.", she replied, hoping not to sound to eager.

Within a few seconds the tennis player was out of the car and at Lara's side, offering her hand to the taller woman. Lara willingly took the offered hand and both women walked up to the front door of Lara's apartment building. With each step they took, the redhead could feel her heart beating faster and the sense of loss getting stronger.

"So, umm...", Lara started as they stood in front of the entrance. "Well, do you want to come in?"

Dana's eyes slightly widened at the question. "I would love to, but, you know, I, umm..." Her voice trailed off.

Lara's heart sank at the rejection, but she understood why Dana would deny the offer.

"I'm sorry.", the tennis player whispered when she didn't get a response, looking into the other woman's blue eyes. "It's not about you or tonight, Lara. I mean, you know, I had a really, really great time tonight, but I don't think we should, you know..." Once again her voice trailed off.

"I know, Dana.", Lara said, her voice barely audible, nodding her head. "Maybe you could just walk me up to my apartment then?", she suggested, smiling unsurely.

Anything to keep Dana around her a little while longer was fine by her.

"I think I could do that.", the tennis player told her and gave one of her brightest smiles.

Lara unlocked the front door and the two women made their way up the stairs to Lara's apartment.

"Apartment 311, this is were I live.", the redhead said as they stood outside her apartment. "You're sure you don't want to come in?", she tried again, although she knew that Dana hadn't changed her mind.

"Yes, Lara, I am sure.", the other woman said, sounding somewhat guilty.

"It's okay, Dana, really.", the sous chef said, noticing the guilty expressing on the smaller woman's face. "I don't want to rush into this either." Feeling somewhat relieved about the fact that they both wanted to take things slow, Lara smiled broadly. "What I'm wanting to say is, I had a really great time tonight and I'm hoping that we'll go out again."

Dana simply nodded at this, smiling. All of a sudden the smile vanished from her features and was replaced by a deep blush.

"Umm, I was wondering...", the brunette started, but failed at words.

"What's wrong, Dana?", Lara asked concerned, mistaking Dana's blush for a sign of nausea. "Are you feeling sick?"

Dana shook her head at that, her eyes still avoiding Lara's. She let out a deep breath and lifted her head to look at the concerned chef. Her face was still a deep crimson, but Lara noticed the shy smile on her lips.

"I was wondering if maybe I could kiss you good night." This time the words didn't fail Dana.

Lara's concern was replaced by a feeling of utter happiness as soon as the athlete had uttered her words. The redhead didn't say anything. She simply closed the distance between them and captured the other woman's lips in a soft kiss. As soon as their lips met, Dana's body pressed into the other woman's, deepening the kiss, and Lara found herself backed up against the door. She was beginning to feel light-headed, her knees about to give in at the sudden passion racing through her system. Lara knew that if they didn't end the kiss now they would end up in bed together, but she couldn't pull herself away from this passionate liplock. Dana ran her hands up the redhead's body and into her hair, pulling her even deeper into the kiss. Regaining control over her body's actions, Lara gently pushed the tennis player away, locking her eyes with the other woman's, each woman's eyes darkened with desire.

"I...I...don't know what got...", Dana started to form an explanation, but was silenced by one of Lara's fingers placed on her slightly swollen lips.

"You don't have to say anything, Dana.", the redhead said, her voice husky. "I think I better go before I pull you inside with me."

Dana nodded, her eyes watching the other woman intently. Both women said their good nights and went different ways, agreeing on meeting at the country club the next day.

"Oh, my god, she's one hell of a kisser.", Lara thought as she wandered through her apartment. "For a second I thought she was going to fuck me right there." A blush crept up her face as she imagined what she had just thought.

Her lips were still tingling from their kiss as she reached her bedroom. Getting out of her dress and into her pajamas she settled into bed.

"Good night, Lara.", she heard Dana say again, wishing she would hear her say this every night. She fell asleep with a smile on her lips, dreaming about the shy tennis player.

Lara Perkins had totally fallen in love and was enjoying it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: Another plate of vegetables**

Morning had come way too early for Lara. She had woken up from a wonderful dream involving Dana and herself half an hour ago and just couldn't fall back asleep again. Having felt no desire to get up already, she had cuddled into her sheets and was now staring at the ceiling, a broad smile on her lips. The redhead wondered what Dana might be doing right now, whether she was still asleep or already up and about. Turning her head to the left, she saw her cell phone on the night stand.

"Maybe I should call her?", she wondered, taking her cell phone and going through the IDs.

She stopped at the tennis player's ID, looking at her name on the display, the sight of it bringing another smile to her face.

"But what should I say? Something like, Hi, it's Lara. I miss you already.", the chef said out loud, shaking her head.

Deciding not to call her, since they'd see each other at the country club later anyway, Lara put the cell phone back on the night stand and slowly crawled out of bed. Once out of the warm, comfortable nest she yawned loudly and stretched her tall body, her t-shirt riding up a little, revealing a glimpse of the flesh of her stomach in the process.

A little while later Lara sat on the kitchen counter, cross-legged, holding a mug of steaming coffee in both her hands, occasionally taking a sip from it. Just as she was about to take another sip, she heard the familiar ring of her cell phone.

"Who could that be?", the chef wondered out loud, putting her mug down before hopping of the counter. "Maybe someone from work..." Trying to figure out who might be the person calling her that early in the morning, she reached the bedroom, where the ringing phone was waiting for her.

"Dana", it read on the display.

Lara's heartbeat quickened at the pure sight of the name. She suddenly felt the butterflies going wild in her stomach.

"Oh, God, it's her." The redhead reached for her cell phone with shaking hands. "Hi.", she greeted the person calling her, her voice a little shaky.

"Hi, Lara. It's...uh...it's me." Dana sounded as nervous as her. "I didn't wake you up, did I?", the tennis player asked, seemingly worried.

"No, you didn't." Lara could hear Dana letting out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but giggle. "Although it wouldn't have been that bad, if you had, because I really like your voice."

A laugh was heard through the phone, then Dana cleared her throat. "Well, umm...this might seem totally geeky and clingy to you, Lara, but, you know, I was wondering if you'd like to have breakfast with us."

"Us?", the chef asked a little alarmed.

"Yeah, I mean with my friends and me, at the Planet.", the athlete explained. "I could come over and fetch you."

Lara was flattered at the invitation. It showed her that Dana wanted to develop this further-just as she did-and she propably would have agreed, if it had been just Dana and her having breakfast. She didn't feel ready to be formally introduced to the other woman's friends already. Afterall, they had had one date yet, they weren't seriously together.

"As much as I would love to have breakfast with you, Dana, I really don't think I'm ready to meet your friends yet.", she started to explain, hearing Dana sigh. "Don't get me wrong, Dana. I'm not wanting to say that I don't want to meet your friends...it's just, you know, we only had one date last night, we're not together yet and I think we should wait until we're more serious about where this is going, you know.", Lara explained, hoping not to sound too negative. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I totally understand.", the tennis player said. "Will I see you at the club then?"

The sous chef nodded her head, although the other woman couldn't see that. "Yeah, you will see me there.", she said, smiling slightly.

Suddenly Dana's mood seemed to lighten. "Will you send me a plate of those delicious grilled vegetables again?", she asked.

"Do you want me to?"

"Of course, I really love your grilled vegetables with those dipping sauces.", Dana answered, her tone serious and yet playful.

Lara smiled, her chest swelling with pride. She had come up with the dipping sauces and the grilled vegetables solely for the tennis player.

"If that's the case.", she said, chuckling lightly. "Of course, I will send you a free plate of my very special creation. Afterall, you're a very special customer, Dana."

"I am?", Dana asked surprised. "How special am I?"

"Well, enough to have the sous chef take care of your meals, personally.", the redhead joked, trying to sound drop dead serious.

"Wow, I really am some kind of VIP then.", Dana laughed. "Well, I gotta go. See you later, bye."

"Okay, bye.", Lara said before she hung up and put the cell phone back on the night stand.

Unable to contain a little squeal, she walked back into the kitchen, shaking her head at her own silly behaviour when it came to Dana. All the brunette had to do was give her a call and she would become all giddy, she would even squeal like a teenage girl-something Lara had never found herself doing before.

--

Lara checked the clock for the umpteeth time this day. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon, the time Dana usually came to have lunch. The more time passed without the tennis player showing up, the more Lara's nervousness grew.

"Maybe she doesn't want to see me, because I didn't want to have breakfast with her.", she feared in her thoughts, while trying to concentrate on the work at hands.

It had been a rather calm day-not to many customers, not to many meals to be prepared-and the chef had found herself with nothing to do a few times this noon.

"What if I hurt her feelings? What if I totally blew my chance to ever have a relationship with her?" Lara's thoughts were running rampant and she silently cursed herself for her sudden insecurities. "What about that kiss when she walked you to your apartment? Doesn't it count at all?", one voice in her mind was reasoning with the other. "That was last night. It happened before she called you this morning.", the other fought back.

Lara groaned lowly. "Am I turning into a schizophrenic now?"

"Hey, Lara, you're okay?", one of the waiters asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry.", she shrugged it off, giving him a little smile.

He nodded his head and took the plate that Lara had just prepared to one of the tables. The redhead watched him walk towards the table for a few seconds before letting her gaze wander around the dining room, her blue eyes scanning the room for any sign of the tennis player.

"She's out on the courts, practicing her skills. So stop going nuts, Lara, just stop.", she ordered herself in her thoughts when she felt a slight sense of disappointment at Dana's absense.

Just as she was about to return her eyes back to her work, Lara noticed a movement out of the corner of her eyes. A new customer was coming into the club. Recognizing the person as the woman of her dreams, the sous chef felt the slight blush creeping up her face as well as the bright smile on her lips. Dana came walking into the dining area, looking around herself. She was wearing a dark blue tennis dress and a blue jacket. Her hair was somewhat messy, but still kept in her trademark ponytail and her eyes were featuring a wild look. Finally locking eyes with the sous chef, Dana's smile broadened and she mouthed a "Hey, you" at the other woman. Lara smiled back and couldn't help but notice how stunningly the athlete looked after a hard workout.

"I just wish she was working out with me." The redhead blushed at the sudden thought and the images coming with it, turning her eyes away from the distracting woman to prepare a plate of the grilled vegetables Dana loved so much.

Looking around the dining area and seeing that it was almost empty, the sous chef decided to wait on Dana herself, spending some time around her. She arranged the vegetables on the plate, took the plate and made her way over to the brunette's table.

"I believe you ordered these.", she said as she stood next to Dana's chair, holding out the plate.

Dana, sitting with her back towards the kitchen area, turned around and looked up at her special waitress who was smiling down at her.

"Yes, I did. I heard the sous chef makes them herself.", the tennis player said with a smile.

"You heard right, Miss.", Lara said, setting the plate down in front of the other woman. "Would you mind if I sat down for a little while?"

For a second Dana seemed taken by surprise, but then she nodded her head and gestured Lara to have a seat. "No, not at all. Please sit."

"Thanks." The redhead took a seat next to the athlete.

Silence fell over the two women as Dana ate her meal, occasionally complimenting on how delicious it was.

"And I really didn't wake you up this morning?", the brunette asked when she had finished her meal, her eyes focused on the chef.

"No, Dana, you didn't.", Lara said, her voice totally calm. "Although you did surprise me. I hadn't expected you to call me."

Dana chuckled. "Well, I hadn't expected myself to do that either.", she admitted. "But then I did, although it seemed kinda clingy, didn't it?"

Lara shook her head. "No, it didn't. In fact, I had been thinking about calling you, too.", she confessed at which Dana's blue eyes lit up.

"Really?"

The sous chef only nodded her head.

"Seems like we're a fine pair of geeks then, huh, Lara?", Dana said, laughing.

"Total geeks.", Lara said, joining the other woman in her laughter.

As the laughter died down, the tennis player suddenly became all serious, seeming to be focused on something. She focused her blue eyes on the redhead again, who was beginning to feel a little uneasy under the other woman's stare.

"So, umm, Lara, do you have plans tonight?", Dana asked rather bluntly.

The sous chef raised her eyebrows, wondering if this was going to be the invitation to another date. "No, not yet. Why?", she asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Well, I, umm...", the tennis player started, her nervousness seeming to return. "I was thinking that we could have another date."

Lara's eyes lit up at the question, her face brightening with a smile. She still couldn't quite believe that Dana would want to pursue this further, even after all that had happened between them.

"I would love to go on another date.", the redhead told the other woman, unable to hide a goofy grin.

"Great." Now Dana was grinning, too. "So when does your shift end?"

"Umm..." Lara thought for a moment. "Since today's friday I'll have to work till 10 o'clock, maybe even longer." Her voice suddenly started to sound disappointed. "That's gonna be some kind of a problem, Dana. Most of the places will be closed."

"Not all of them, though.", the brunette said, smiling triumphatically. "I happen to know a place that'll be open at that time, Lara."

At that the sous chef's mood lightened again, she even became somewhat playful. "You do? Care to tell me the name of that mysterious place?", she asked.

Dana shook her head. "No, not telling anything.", she said, which earned her a pout from the chef.

"Aww, come on, Dana.", Lara pleaded.

"No, it's a surprise.", the tennis player said, grinning mysteriously, which only added to Lara's already peaked curiousity. "You'll have to wait until tonight, Lara."

Lara realized that she wouldn't get the tennis player to tell anything and decided to let it go, since that way she would have something to look forward to, which would help her get the day over. She gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, I'll wait."

"You don't have any other choice.", Dana said then, getting up. "Well, I'm gonna go hit the courts again. See you tonight.", she added, smiling at the chef, before making her way to the exit.

"Yeah, see you tonight.", Lara said, getting up as well.

The redhead returned to her place behind the counter, well aware of the looks the rest of the staff were giving her.

"I had no idea you were familiar with Dana Fairbanks, Lara.", the exact same waiter that had worried about her well-being addressed her now, his voice seemingly teasing.

Lara looked at him, her shining eyes betraying her emotionless face. "So what if I know her?", she asked, trying to sound indifferent.

She was well aware that most of her colleagues knew about her sexual orientation. They had started to suspect something when Lara had begun sending grilled vegetables and dipping sauces to solely the tennis player and then, one night after work, they had confronted her. Not able to get out of it anyway else, Lara had come out in front of them, her voice terribly shaking, even failing her sometimes. She had been scared to death that they'd freak out about the fact that she was gay, she had been scared that she'd loose her job because of it, but none of her colleagues seemed to have a problem with it-to Lara's great relief.

"How well do you know her?", the waiter, Simon, teased, his eyes watching the redhead intently.

Lara could only figure what was going on inside Simon's head right then, but by the gleam in his eyes it was most likely something involving Dana, herself and a lot of skin.

"Certainly not in the way you're just picturing.", she said, laughing.

Simon looked shocked at first, then his face turned a deep crimson. Muttering something Lara couldn't make out, he walked away, leaving the laughing chef to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six: The Planet**

The sous chef groaned exhausted as the door to the locker room finally fell into its lock, signalizing this day of work was over. The club had been quite calm around lunch, but as soon as dinner had started, the restaurant had literally been flooded by customers, giving her and the rest of the staff some busy time. It wasn't that she wasn't used to hurried, busy nights at work-which she was indeed-but she had had different plans for the night and now she wasn't sure if she had the energy to go out on a date. She groaned again, feeling the slight ache in her muscles.

"I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow.", the redhead whispered, while she strolled past the rows of lockers.

Suddenly she thought she could smell food, but shrugged it off as it was probably just the smell lingering in her now dirty white uniform. Taking a turn round the row where her locker was located, her eyes fell on the other person present in the room. Dana was sitting on the bench between the two locker rows, wearing a tight yellow t-shirt and jeans, two containers of food sitting on her lap.

"Hey, what are you doing here this late?", Lara asked.

"Well, I thought you might be hungry.", Dana answered, gesturing towards the containers. "I didn't know what you like, so I just brought some Thai food." She looked away from Lara. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all.", the redhead said, opening her locker. "Actually, I am hungry, but I thought we were going to have dinner at that mysterious place."

"I never said so, did I?", the athlete joked, watching as the other woman stripped out of her chef's jacket. "By the way, we wouldn't get anything to eat there right now."

Lara nodded. It had been almost eleven p.m. when she had been able to leave the kitchen and she hadn't thought that there would be any other restaurant-except maybe some fast food restaurants-where they could have dinner that late at night.

"So what is this place like, Dana?", she asked, her curiousity once again showing. "Is it some kind of bar, or what?"

The tennis player shook her head. "You're impossible, Lara. I'm not gonna tell you.", she said, chuckling.

Lara smiled at her and proceeded to strip out of her drenched chef's uniform to get into something more comfortable. For a few seconds Dana continued to watch her, but then turned around, her cheeks flaming red.

"You can turn around, Dana, I'm fully clothed again.", the redhead told the other woman when she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top, the situation highly resembling the first talk they ever had just a few days ago.

Dana did as she was told, a shy smile on her lips. "Come, let's eat.", she said then, patting the space next to her.

Grinning Lara sat down and took the container of food offered to her.

--

"I never thought I was ever gonna have dinner in that locker room.", Lara admitted laughing as they were strolling along the parking lot to get to their cars.

"Me neither.", Dana answered. "But I did enjoy it."

"Yeah, me too.", the redhead said, smiling a happy smile.

She had indeed enjoyed it, in fact she wouldn't have wanted to eat anywhere else. The locker room had provided some kind of privacy they never would have had at any restaurant. It had just been the two of them, no other people, no other voices, no one looking at them and somehow this had seemed to have given Dana a sense of familiarity, so that, ocassionally, she had leaned her head on Lara's shoulder or ran her hand over Lara's.

"So, when do you have to work tomorrow?", Dana asked nervously when they had reached Lara's car.

"Umm...at four.", the chef said, a mischievous grin suddenly crossing her face. "Why? Are you planning on keeping me up tonight, Dana?", she added, her voice low and seductive.

Just as she had intended, the tennis player blushed a deep crimson. "Umm...I...err...I...", she stammered, not finding the words.

Lara laughed and playfully nudged the athlete's shoulder. "God, she's so cute when she's blushing.", the sous chef thought, her eyes fixed on the other woman.

Suddenly she couldn't and wouldn't resist the urge to kiss Dana, not as passionate as the other night in front of her apartment, but long enough to leave them both speechless afterwards. After she pulled away from the delicious lips, she noticed Dana looking around nervously, just as if she feared someone might have seen them.

"What's wrong, Dana?", she asked, somewhat concerned.

"Huh?" Dana's eyes returned to her. "Uh, it's nothing, really. Don't worry, Lara."

The redhead decided not to ask further questions about the matter, rounded her car to get to the driver's side and was about to get into her car when she noticed that Dana still hadn't moved, but was staring at her.

"Don't...don't you wanna get to your car, Dana, because, you know, I don't know the way.", she inquired, somewhat confused.

"Umm...actually, I don't have my car here, you know. I finished training a little earlier today to get home and, you know, Shane gave me a ride.", the tennis player explained. "So, I was hoping I could go with you."

Lara nodded. "Yeah, if you tell me where to drive.", she said, gesturing towards the passenger side and finally getting in.

"Thanks.", Dana said, walking up to the passenger side.

--

"So, this is The Planet, huh?", Lara asked as she was being led through the place, looking around the crowded room. "Is it always this crowded?"

Dana shook her head. "No, it only gets like this at night.", she answered. "It's less busy here the rest of the day."

Lara nodded, still looking around, noticing that most people were female. "Is this some kind of a women's hangout?", she wondered aloud, at which the brunette chuckled.

"Yeah, you could call it that.", she said. "It's mostly a place where gays, mostly lesbians, hang out, although there are straight regulars, too." Dana turned to look at Lara. "Have you never heard of it?"

"No, not before you mentioned it this morning.", the sous chef answered honestly. "And you come here, like, all the time?"

"Yeah, I hang out here with my friends quite a lot.", Dana answered, manoeuvrering through the crowd towards the bar in the patio, where they sat down.

Lara grinned at her, being in a flirtatious mood. "Then I wonder why you had to find yourself a date at the country club. I mean, with all the women walking around here..."

The athlete returned her flirtatious grin. "Well, the choice is definitely greater here, but, you know, the only place I know that has its very own soup chef is your country club.", she said, emphasizing the "soup chef". "And you know, I really, really like soup chefs."

The redhead blushed slightly at that remark. "What's a soup chef?"

"Ah, well, when that waiter told me the skewered vegetables were from you, he called you a sous chef, you know. I had never heard of that word before and so I thought you were a soup chef.", she explained, seemingly embarrassed.

"That is so cute.", Lara thought.

"Are you mad at me?", the tennis player asked, her voice playful.

"No, actually, I gotta admit, I really like it. Soup chef, I mean."

"You do?", Dana asked, smiling a flirtatious smile.

"Yes, I do.", the chef said. "It makes me feel special."

"Well, Lara, you are special, to me anyway.", the brunette said, sounding completely honest, looking deeply into the chef's eyes.

Lara could feel the sexual tension between them. It was threatening to overwhelm her, despite she had vowed to herself not to take that step yet. Slowly but surely Dana was leaning closer and closer, her sparkling eyes falling shut. Lara could feel the heat radiating from the athlete, her resistance slowly crumbling. She didn't know where this was coming from nor did she really understand what was going on, why they were being drawn towards each other like that all of a sudden, and right at that moment it didn't matter to her. Lara closed her blue eyes and began to lean towards Dana.

"I want you so bad, Lara." The hoarse whisper ripped the redhead out of her trance. She pulled back and stared expectantly at the other woman.

"What's wrong, Lara?", Dana asked when she had realized that there'd be no kiss. "Why did you pull back?" She sounded confused.

Lara didn't answer right away. She kept staring at the brunette, pondering whether she had been the one whispering those words or if they had been a production of her mind.

"What is it? Why aren't you saying something?", Dana asked, her confusion turning into frustration when the redhead kept staring at her. "God, Lara, you're scaring me.", she groaned.

"Did you...did you whisper these words, Dana?", Lara inquired, her voice shakier than she had intended.

The tennis player raised her eyebrows. "What words?"

Realizing that Dana had no idea what she was talking about and therefore couldn't have been uttering the words, Lara burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?", the athlete asked, even more confused.

"It's...I...you know...I...", the sous chef attempted an explanation, but couldn't form any coherent sentences while laughing.

When she was finally able to calm herself down, she noticed the weird look on Dana's face. The other woman had her arms crossed in front of her chest and seemed somewhat offended.

"Don't worry, Dana, I wasn't laughing at you.", the chef said, trying to sound apologetic. "I was laughing at myself."

The brunette's eyebrows raised again. "At yourself? Why?"

"Well, you know, because...", Lara began. She then looked around themselves, leaned towards Dana's ear and told her why she had to laugh. She told the other woman about how she had been fantasizing about them after their first kiss. She told her about how it had aroused her, how she had heard her voice. She told her about how she had ended up on the couch, fucking herself. When the sous chef had finished her explanation, Dana pulled back, her face blushed. Lara kept looking at her. Somehow retelling what had happened that night had been quite a turn on.

"Wow, I hadn't realized I had that effect on other women.", Dana said after a short silence.

Lara grinned. "Well, now you know, Dana."

A shy smile came across Dana's lips. "Yeah, I do. Well, umm, maybe we should order something to drink?", she suggested.

The sous chef didn't mind the sudden change of subject at all, in fact it suited her rather well, since she figured if they'd keep on talking about sex, they'd end up having sex that night, something she didn't know if they were ready for yet.

They sat like that for hours, talking, flirting, enjoying each other, when Dana suddenly grabbed Lara's hand and pulled her from the bar stool. A little surprised at this, Lara looked at Dana, her eyes wide.

"I think we should join the crowd, Lara.", the tennis player said, pulling her into the mentioned crowd.

"I don't wanna leave already.", Lara said, not knowing what the other woman had in mind.

"I'm not talking about leaving.", Dana answered and turned around, beaming at the sous chef. "I wanna dance with you." With that the tennis player wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck, pulling their bodies closer together.

"Okay, but you better watch your toes. I tend to step on them.", the redhead admitted with a giggle, wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist.

The athlete smiled at her, pulling herself towards Lara, so that her mouth was level with Lara's ear. As the other woman's hot breath caressed her ear and neck, Lara's own breath caught. She felt her heartbeat quicken, the sexual tension returning.

"You know what they say, Lara?", the tennis player whispered, the seductive tone in her voice sending a shiver down Lara's spine.

The sous chef couldn't believe how strongly her body responded to the other woman's actions. "What do they say, Dana?", she managed to get out, her voice already low with the desire that was welling up inside her.

"Well, I heard that if a person is a great dancer, it's very likely that he or she is a great lover, too.", the brunette answered, keeping her voice low. "Whereas lousy dancers..." Dana's voice trailed off, leaving the rest to assumption.

The redhead could feel a slight aching between her legs. She pulled back slighty, so that she could look at Dana without breaking the body contact. "Do you want to find out if it's true?", she asked, smiling seductively.

She had expected the athlete to blush furiously, but the blush never came. Instead the tennis player kept looking straight into her eyes and before Lara had any chance to react Dana pulled her head down, their mouths fusing together in a heated kiss. Lara's thoughts were running wild in her head. Had Dana changed her mind about not rushing into this? If so-and by the way she was kissing her, Lara was sure she had-the redhead wouldn't refuse. Lara moved her hands onto Dana's hips and pulled the smaller woman into her, running her tongue over her lips. Dana willingly opened her mouth to let the tongue in. As the two women were exploring each others mouths, their bodies moving to the latino music in the background, the chef began to lose control.

"Oh, God, Dana, what are you doing to me?", she breathed out, when the passionate liplock was broken due to their mutual need of air, their foreheads touching.

"I could ask you the same." Dana was breathless. "What do we do now?", she wondered. "I mean, I know I said I don't want to rush into anything, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"I want you, Dana.", was all the chef said, before pulling the brunette into another kiss.

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at SuperGirl06: I know what you mean, I miss really them, too, that's why I write this story...well, Dana didn't try to cook for Lara in this chapter, but that's actually a great idea. Maybe that'll happen in a later chapter.

at Totallygay: I will, I promise.

at auggy1984: There's a lot more to come. Believe me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven: Waking up**

When Lara awoke, it was still mostly dark outside, the sound of early morning traffic could be heard. Still a little groggy, the redhead reached onto the night stand to get her alarm clock.

"Fuck, it's only 5.30.", she groaned, setting the clock back on its place.

Then she noticed the arm draped across her stomach and a happy smile stole its way onto her face. She turned her head to the right to take a closer look at the person the arm belonged to. Dana was still fast asleep, her head leaning against Lara's shoulder, her right arm and leg across Lara's body. The sous chef felt a peace settling inside her heart and immediately knew that this was what she wanted, needed to have. Just by looking at the sleeping tennis player, dressed in one of her pajamas, she knew that she could spent the rest of her life with her.

"You are so beautiful, Dana.", Lara said, stroking some strands of the athlete's hair out of her face.

Dana sighed in her sleep, pulling herself closer against the chef. Another smile found its way on Lara's lips as she thought about what had happened just a few hours ago, after they had left The Planet.

------

As the door to Lara's apartment fell back into its lock, their mouths met again. Lara pushed herself into Dana, backing her up against the door. Her whole body was on fire, she was going crazy with desire. The only thing she could think about was having sex with Dana. They had agreed not to rush into having sex just one night ago, but this agreement seemed forgotten as they eagerly kissed.

"Oh, God...", the tennis player breathed out when they broke the kiss. "You're one great kisser, Lara."

The sous chef simply grinned, pulling the other woman along with her as she moved through the apartment. She was shaking with desire by now, her groin aching for attention, her breathing shallow. She didn't even give Dana time to admire her apartment, since she would have enough time for that in the morning. Finally they reached the bedroom. Lara swirled the athlete around, pulling her into another hungry kiss. When she thought that she had lavished enough attention on her lips, the redhead moved to kiss the brunette's neck, sucking the sweet skin into her mouth, softly biting down on it, eliciting a low moan. Lara moved her hands down the other woman's back to the rim of her t-shirt, while Dana kept running her hands through the chef's red hair. Just as Lara moved her hands under the t-shirt to take the disturbing piece of clothing off of her, the tennis player unexpectedly stiffened, pushing her away ever so slightly.

"What's wrong, Dana?", the chef asked concerned. "Did I do anything wrong?"

Dana shook her head, looking at the floor. "No, Lara, you didn't. It's just, you know, I..." Her voice trailed off.

Lara put her hand under the other woman's chin, making her look up. "You can tell me, Dana.", she said softly, noticing the somewhat scared look in the smaller woman's blue eyes.

The brunette swallowed audibly. "I can't do this.", she admitted in a low whisper, sounding defeated. "It's not that I don't want you, Lara. Believe me, I do. I really do. It's just...I just can't, not tonight. I don't even know why, but...I'm so sorry." Her head hung again.

Lara pulled Dana into a hug, all of her earlier desire replaced by a deep concern. She had never been comfortable when people she loved were depressed and Dana was no exception. The redhead began to run her hands up and down the athlete's back, trying to cheer her up.

"It's okay, Dana.", she whispered. "You don't need to apologize. We don't have to do anything you don't want to tonight."

The tennis player sighed lowly. "Still, I'm sorry for turning you on and not letting you have any.", she said, pulling away ever so slightly, smiling again.

"Yeah, that was some mean thing to do.", Lara said, chuckling. "But, you know, I'm like an elephant, I have a fantastic memory. I'll get back at you for it one day."

Dana grimaced. "Oh my God, I'm dating an elephant in disguise.", she said in mock astonishment, not able to contain her laughter.

"Very funny, Dana.", the sous chef said, but soon joined Dana in her laughter. "So, what are you going to do now?", Lara asked when she had been able to regain composure.

Dana hesitated. "Umm...I could get a cab or maybe call Shane or Alice to give me a ride."

"At half past three in the morning?" Lara raised her eyebrows.

"Well...", the tennis player didn't seem to know what to say.

"Well, Dana, you could as well stay here, you know.", the chef suggested, gesturing around the room. "You would have, if...", she trailed off, looking at the brunette, who's eyes sparkled at the suggestion.

"And you really don't mind if I sleep here?", Dana asked, seemingly unsure.

"Dana, I wouldn't have suggested it, if I did mind.", the sous chef answered, making her way towards her wardrobe to get Dana a pair of pajamas.

------

Lara didn't mind not having made love, not if it would have made Dana uncomfortable. She wanted, needed Dana to enjoy making love. Taking another look at the slumbering beauty next to her, Lara sighed contentedly. Right at that moment the redhead felt as save and loved as she hadn't in a long time. Deciding that she could need a few more hours of sleep, she closed her eyes again, wrapping her right arm around Dana in a protective gesture.

The next thing Lara remembered was waking up without Dana sleeping next to her. The space where the other woman had been lying was still warm, so she couldn't have been gone too long.

"Where is she?", the redhead wondered, sitting up in bed. "Did she go home while I was asleep?"

Her thoughts continued to run wild until she heard the faint flush of the toilet, telling her that Dana hadn't left. It didn't take long until the tennis player came strolling back into the bedroom. With her hair tousled she looked irresistibly cute to Lara.

"Hey, where've you been?", the chef asked as Dana crawled back into the bed and snuggled up to her under the sheets.

Dana smiled. "I had to pee, so I went looking for your bathroom.", she said simply. "You have a nice apartment, Lara.", she added.

"Thanks." Lara grinned happily. "Were you snooping around?", she asked with a giggle.

"Are you hiding something that I might have discovered?" The athlete raised her brows questioningly.

The chef paused, thinking of something to say. "Yeah, well...", she began, her voice low. "You could find all the hidden peanuts in the cupboards, indicating that I'm truly an elephant..." Suddenly she slapped her hands across her mouths as if she had said something she didn't want anyone to know.

"I knew it. I knew you were an elephant from the moment you told me about how you tend to step onto people's toes while dancing.", Dana said, barely able not to laugh.

"Yeah, you got me." At that they both burst into laughter.

To Lara talking to Dana had seemed so easy from the first moment on. She could talk to her about everything without feeling either way older or way younger than her as it had been the case with former girlfriends. The redhead smiled and wrapped her arms around the tennis player, who snuggled even closer.

"Do you want to have breakfast with me?", the chef wondered. "You know, we could go to The Planet if you want."

"Yeah, let's do that.", the athlete said, smiling contentedly.

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at SuperGirl06: Wow, I never thought I'd inspire anyone to write a story, but it's always nice to hear. I already read your story and I gotta tell you (once again) I love it. As for Dana and Lara having some dessert...well, they haven't had any, but I hope you liked it anyway...

at Totallygay: Don't worry, I'm not gonna stop this story so soon...

at auggy1984: Thanks for telling me that you could feel the passion between them. I was kinda afraid you couldn't...

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight: Meeting the friends**

Lara couldn't help but feel nervous as they sat at a table in The Planet's patio, waiting for Dana's friends to arrive. Those women seemed to be some kind of a family to Dana and meeting them, being introduced to them, meant pretty much the same as being introduced to her parents. Lara kept looking around while nervously drumming on the table. Dana had been right, The Planet really was totally different in the morning. Everything seemed so calm and relaxed, nothing compared to the dancing crowd just a few hours ago.

"Lara, don't worry, they'll absolutely love you.", Dana tried to calm her, reaching for her hand and holding it still.

The redhead turned her head, smiling a nervous smile. Compared to her, the tennis player appeared totally relaxed. She was dressed in a white top and a pair of jeans she had borrowed from Lara, whereas Lara wore her favourite pair of green slacks and a navy blue sleeveless shirt.

"It feels like I'm about to meet your parents.", Lara said. "Like we're an item now."

The brunette raised her brows at that. "Are we not?"

"I don't know. Do you want us to be?", the chef asked.

Dana smiled brightly at her, nodding her head. "Yes, I want us to be.", she answered, pulling the chef's head to her's, so that their foreheads were touching.

Lara couldn't believe what she had heard. It felt like a dream come true and her whole being was suddenly flooded by pure happiness.

"Mind if we join you, lovebirds?" A voice Lara didn't know interrupted their moment. She pulled away from Dana to see who it belonged to. She immediately recognised the two women standing in front of their table as the ones sharing the kiss, blowing their cover.

"No, not at all." She heard Dana say and the two women took their places across from them.

"So, who is our guest?", the dark haired woman asked, looking first at Lara then Dana.

"Yeah, Dana, we'd like to know." Another unknown voice spoke up, belonging to the blonde who had been taking down notes.

The newcomer sat down next to the couple, her eyes focused on Lara. With three pairs of eyes watching her, Lara began to feel like an exotic animal in the zoo. Dana kept silent, holding the chef's hand.

"She's probably waiting for Shane.", the sous chef thought, noticing that the black haired woman was still missing.

It didn't take long until a very grumpy looking Shane came walking to the table. She slouched down on the chair next to the redhead, giving her a appreciative smile.

"Come on, Dana, tell us already.", the curious blonde demanded.

Dana stood up, giving Lara a smile. "Alright, guys.", she said, holding up their intertwined hands at which Lara rose as well. "This is Lara Perkins, my...uh...my girlfriend."

The other women gasped at the use of "girlfriend", seemingly surprised at it. The redhead herself was a little taken aback by being introduced as girlfriend already.

"Lara, these are my friends.", the tennis player started, pointing to the dark haired woman in the business clothes. "Bette Porter, the director of the California Arts Center. Tina Kennard, Bette's girlfriend...", she said, pointing to the not so quirky blonde. "Alice Pieszecki, journalist at the LA magazine..." This was the quirky blonde, who now grinned up at Lara. "And Shane McCutcheon, hairstylist and I guess you two already talked...", she ended, sitting down again.

"Yeah, we did.", Shane answered as Lara sat down as well.

"Whoa, Dana, what did my eyes just see?", Alice spoke up. "These are not your clothes, are they?" Alice's grin was getting wider with the second. "Did you two sleep with each other? Did you? Did you?"

The redhead and the brunette both blushed. They had been close to having sex, but had ended up cuddling.

"No, Al, we didn't.", Dana said, sounding embarrassed.

"Oh, no, I don't believe you. You sit here with your cute, redheaded chef, early in the morning, wearing her clothes and you're trying to tell me that you didn't have sex? Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Believe me or not, we didn't have sex.", the tennis player said again at which Alice just rolled her eyes.

"We really didn't.", Lara said, joining the conversation. "But we did sleep in one bed together."

Just as the journalist was about to protest again, Tina interrupted her. "Alice, let it go. If they say they didn't do it, they didn't. And even if they did, it's none of our business."

"Thanks, Tina.", Dana said, smiling warmly at the blonde.

Lara smiled. She could really feel how much these women cared for each other and she had to admit that she liked them a lot, even though she had just met them. They had just something about them that gave her the feeling of being welcomed into the group.

--

"So, do you like my friends?", Dana asked as the door to Lara's apartment fell into its lock once again, this time without two kissing women pressed against it.

"Like them?", Lara asked back, a huge smile crossing her lips. "I absolutely love them.", she added, at which the brunette released a relieved sigh. "You know, they were so willing to get to know me, taking me into your group like this." Lara snapped her fingers for better visualization of how easy the getting to know them had been. "I mean, your friends are amazing, totally amazing."

"Yeah, they are and you know, I think they love you, too.", the tennis player said, smiling at the taller woman. "But then again, how could they not love you?"

Lara grinned. Although Dana and her had only been dating for three days now, it somehow felt as if she had known the shy tennis player all her life. Meeting Dana's friends, who had so easily accepted her as one of them, had been a great experience. The sous chef closed the distance between herself and the other woman in one swift move, pulling her into her arms.

"It's been a wonderful morning, Dana, from the moment I woke up until now.", she whispered into the smaller woman's ear, noticing the shiver it sent down her spine. "But don't you have to be somewhere?"

"No, what are you talking about?", Dana wondered, seemingly clueless. Then realization hit her and she slapped her forehead. "Fuck, I have to go train.", she said, pulling herself out of the embrace.

The redhead watched amused as Dana ran into the bedroom to get her clothes from the other night. The brunette seemed in a hurry all of a sudden, running past Lara towards the door, where she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Fuck, I don't have my car.", she muttered under her breath, turning towards the other woman, looking at her with pleading eyes. "Could you give me a ride to my house, Lara?"

The chef literally melted at the sight in front of her. Looking in the athlete's pleading puppy dog eyes, she knew she would never be able to deny her anything, not if she looked at her like that.

"Better not tell her that or she'll use it against me?", Lara thought, chuckling. She walked over to the tennis player and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I could, indeed.", she said, her voice teasing. "But there's one condition..."

Dana's eyes widened and she seemed a little shocked. "What is it?"

"Well, we'll have to have another date, Dana.", the sous chef said, causing the smaller woman to sigh in relief.

"I would love to."

--

A little while later Lara sat on her couch, thinking about her eventful morning. Waking up next to Dana had been wonderful, meeting Dana's friends had been fantastic and being able to look forward to seeing Dana again that night was just exiting. The redhead couldn't believe how little time it had taken to make her fall in love with the shy athlete. This woman had put a spell on her, something she had never experienced before.

"You know, Lara, I think you're a wonderful person. I can see you make Dana happy and I have to admit that I really, really like you and I think that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, since I'm expecting you to hang out with us more often from now on." Lara remembered Alice's words. The blonde had pulled her aside when Dana had gone to the restroom, telling her this with such honesty that Lara just had to hug her.

The chef felt totally and utterly ecstatic, especially when thinking about Dana's use of "girlfriend". When the tennis player had actually used that particular term to introduce her, Lara had been taken by surprise, but now that she had time to think about it, the prospect of being Dana's girlfriend made her feel completely happy.

--

On her way from the locker room to the restaurant, Lara walked past the tennis courts. Knowing Dana was there, she decided to take a look at the object of her affection before going to work. Dana was in the middle of a practice match against her coach as far as Lara could tell and had her back towards the fence, giving the redhead the chance to admire her backside.

"Nice ass.", she thought to herself, wondering what it would feel like to dig her fingernails into it while Dana made love to her.

Lara's eyes lingered on Dana for a few more moments, watching the other woman's movements as she ran back and forth. She could have stayed there for hours, simply watching the athlete, but suddenly she remembered why she actually was here. Tearing her gaze away reluctantly, she made her way to the restaurant.

--

The sous chef had known something would go entirely wrong, the day had started too perfect for it to continue to be like that. Dinner had been completely busy, the restaurant had literally been flooded with people once again. Now it was quarter to one and Lara sat in her car, tired and exhausted, about to drive home. Originally, she had planned to have the third date in a row with Dana, but she hadn't been able to get away, not even to inform Dana about the inevitable, involuntary change of plans. Sitting in her car, she kept staring at her cell phone, pondering whether to call the tennis player or not. Eventually, her heart won and she dialed Dana's number.

"Yes?", a very sleepy Dana answered the phone.

"Hi, uh, it's me, Lara.", Lara began. "Sorry to wake you up..."

"No, don't worry.", the tennis player said, before yawning. "What is it?"

"I wanted to apologize...", the chef said, dropping her voice a little.

"Apologize? For what?" Dana sounded alarmed.

"Well, for not showing up tonight. You know, I just came back from work...", Lara started, but Dana interrupted her.

"That's okay, Lara, really. When you didn't come to the locker room tonight, I went to look for you. I saw all those people around the dining area and I figured you couldn't get away. I mean, it's your job, isn't it?", the athlete explained.

Lara nodded her head. "Yeah, it is. It's just, I really wanted to see you tonight and..." Once again the redhead got interrupted.

"I wanted to see you, too, but, you know, we can see each other some other time, can't we?" Dana paused for a moment, the line falling silent. "Hey, how about we meet at The Planet in the morning?"

The sous chef's mood lightened at the suggestion. "Yeah, let's do that, Dana.", she said, grinning.

"Okay, see you then. Good night, Lara."

"Good night.", Lara said, hanging up the phone and starting the engine to get home to sleep.

--

Dressed in her pajamas, Lara was about to settle into bed to get the well needed rest after an exhausting day, when she heard the knocking at her door. Yawning loudly, she walked to the door, wondering who could be wanting to visit her at almost two in the morning.

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at auggy1984: Thanks. Before I started writing that chapter I was torn between letting them have some or not...in the end I choose to write it the way I did, showing the special bond between those two without some sex. And as for Lara not getting anything, well, she did get to be close to Dana, didn't she:)

at WolfgalX: As you might guess I love Dana and Lara, too, especially the way they are around each other. Watching them alwaysw makes me smile and I wanted to capture their dorkyness in this chapter. Thanks for telling me I succeeded.

at SuperGirl06: There'll be some dessert for them soon, I promise.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine: Late night visit**

A little anxious, Lara turned the doorknob and opened the door, revealing the familiar face of a certain tennis player. Dana was standing there, smiling a huge smile, dressed in pajamas and a light summer jacket and holding a small bag in her hands.

"What...what are you doing here?", the redhead asked, rubbing her eyes in disbelieve. "And how did you get in here?"

Dana's smile only brightened. "Well, there was this really nice guy coming home from work, or so he told me, who let me in.", she explained.

"Yeah, but why are you here?", Lara wondered, stepping aside to let the other woman in.

"When you called me, you sounded as if you could need some nice company and I thought I could be that company.", Dana said, smiling up at the taller woman.

"That's very nice of you, but you really shouldn't have.", the chef said, walking into the living room and gesturing the athlete to come with her.

"Yes, Lara, I should have, although I'm being a total geek again.", Dana said, chuckling, as they sat on the couch.

"I like you being a geek, Dana.", Lara said honestly. "It's totally adorable."

The brunette grinned, nudging the other woman playfully. "You're just as geeky as I am, Lara. Wanting to apologize for having to work...how geeky is that?"

Lara laughed. "Very geeky, I think." She then noticed the bag in Dana's hands. "What's in that bag?"

"Oh, I brought some things I'm gonna need in the morning, you know, like toothbrush, fresh underwear, stuff like that.", the tennis player explained, causing Lara to raise her eyebrows.

"So, you're planning to spend the night?", she asked.

The brunette nodded her head, giving her puppy dog eyes. "Please, Lara."

Lara hesitated, pretending to contemplate the idea carefully and the longer she kept silent, the more did Dana's smile vanish. It wasn't really a difficult choice-of course she wanted Dana to spend the night-but she simply loved teasing the other woman. "Alright, you can stay.", she finally said, at which the other woman sighed in relief. "But don't you think it was a bit hasty to bring all those things with you without knowing if I'd let you stay?", the sous chef asked, a playful smile on her lips.

"Well..." Dana returned the smile, throwing her head back in a flirtatious way. "I knew you would."

"Oh, you knew?" Lara swapped into flirting, too, unconsciously moving closer to her counterpart.

The athlete nodded her head. "Yes, I knew.", she said, drawing closer, too. "You just can't resist me, Lara."

Their lips were almost touching. Lara could feel Dana's hot breath on her face and it was turning her on. She closed the little distance left between their mouths in a soft kiss that soon became more passionate, their tongues slipping into each other's mouths, exploring the depths. The redhead couldn't believe how easily she was turned on these days. It only took a few kisses from the brunette and all she could think about was making love to her. She figured Dana would likely push her away, but she just had to try. She didn't want this to be the third night in a row without having sex after engaging in an arousing liplock with Dana. Pulling away slightly, Lara broke the kiss, looking at the other woman, whose eyes were dark with desire.

"Dana...", she began, trying to catch her breath. "I want you so much. Do you think you're..." She didn't get to finish her sentence. Dana silenced her by bringing their lips together once again, indicating that she wanted this as much as Lara.

They stood from the couch, staring at each other. Lara's heart was racing in her chest. Sharing sweet kisses, they made it to the bedroom, the chef leading the way. Once there, their bodies pushed into each other, their mouths fused in a hungry kiss. Dana wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck, pulling her even closer. The chef felt the heat radiating from the other woman and moved her hands down her back, at which Dana shivered, a low moan escaping her lips. Lara's hands reached the rim of the brunette's pajama top, slipping under the fabric. Dana's skin felt so soft under her fingertips, almost like silk. Suddenly, the tennis player tensed again, like the night before. The sous chef broke the kiss, looking at the other woman, disappointment written all over her face. For the most part she was concerned, but she couldn't help but feel just a little angry at Dana for denying her the pleasure once again. She didn't know what to do or to say, so she kept staring at the smaller woman, who was looking at the floor.

"I need to tell you something, Lara.", the tennis player said after a short silence, her voice barely audible.

"What?", Lara demanded, sounding more irritated than she had intended in her beginning frustration.

"Umm..." Dana looked up, meeting the chef's eyes. "You know, I, umm, I haven't done this in a long time, Lara, and, uh, I don't have a lot experience in it.", she managed to get out, obviously embarrassed.

Lara relaxed, her anger ebbed away. She moved her hands behind Dana's head and smiled at her, trying to ease her awkwardness. "That's okay.", she said in a soothing tone, running her hands through the smaller woman's dark tresses "Don't worry about this too much, Dana. I haven't been with another woman in a long time, either." Lara felt Dana relax at her confession. "And you know what, I'm not as experienced as you might think." The redhead grinned at this. Before Dana, she had only ever been with three other women and the last relationship had ended almost three years ago when Lara had moved to LA to take a job at the country club.

"God, I was so afraid to tell you this. I thought you'd laugh at my inexperience.", the brunette admitted, a shy smile on her lips.

Lara shook her head. "You don't have to be afraid.", she said sincerely. "This is not about your past experiences, Dana, it's about us, about you and me."

The athlete nodded, completely relaxed. All the tension was gone. The two women smiled at each other. Lara's eyes fell closed as she moved in for another kiss, renewing the passion flowing between them. Once again, she moved her hands under Dana's top and this time the smaller woman didn't pull away. Instead she mirrored the sous chef's actions, moving her hands under Lara's shirt andup and down her back, setting Lara's skin on fire, eliciting a low groan from the redhead. Slowly Lara moved the shirt up and off the tennis player, tossing it carelessly to the floor. She gasped at the sight of a half naked Dana, amazed by her beauty.

"Like what you see?", the brunette teased at which the chef only nodded her head, unable to form any words.

The chef was simply speechless, admiring the other woman's torso, her toned stomach, her slightly showing stomach muscles, her firm breasts, her hardened nipples. The pure sight of the athlete's body made Lara's mouth water, her fingers prickled in anticipation of touching the other woman. The sous chef swallowed audibly, her skin tingling with the sensations of Dana's fingers. Giving one last shy smile, the redhead closed her eyes, leaning in for another kiss. She ran her fingertips over Dana's stomach, feeling the muscles, causing the tennis player to shiver under her touch. She felt Dana tugging at the rim of her shirt and lifted her arms, so that Dana could strip the shirt off of her, too. Once half naked, Lara could feel her arousal increase even more. She wanted to feel Dana, she wanted to touch her and to be touched by her.

"You are beautiful.", Dana whispered, her voice hoarse.

The redhead smiled. "So are you.", she replied in a husky whisper, pulling the smaller woman into her arms. As soon as their bodies collided, naked skin on naked skin, Lara felt a jolt going through her body. This newfound closeness was simply incredible. She could feel the brunette's hands all over her body, causing her to moan softly. Slowly they undressed each other, admiring each revealed piece of the other's body, exploring each other's bodies with their hands, mouths and tongues.

"Let's move to the bed, Dana.", Lara whispered into Dana's ear, when she could stand it no longer. She had to have her, had to feel her, had to pleasure her.

"Mmm, let's do that.", the tennis player answered, while placing soft kisses all over Lara's shoulders.

The sous chef pulled the smaller woman along to the bed, where she laid her down. Lying down next to the athlete and bracing herself on her left arm, Lara once again admired the other woman's body, running her right hand all over her skin. Dana closed her eyes, obviously enjoying the caresses, her breathing had long quickened into a pant. Lara smiled at the sight, moving in for another passionate kiss. Once the kiss broke, the two woman stared into each other's eyes.

"Do you want me to go further?", Lara asked, hovering above the athlete, still not knowing if Dana was really ready. She didn't want to force the other woman into anything.

The tennis player smiled, her desire visible in her eyes, her body slightly shaking. "Yes, I want you to, Lara.", she answered, her voice barely audible.

The redhead smiled. "Close your eyes, Dana.", she said in a soft whisper.

Dana did as she was asked and closed her eyes, a small, nervous smile on her lips. Through all her arousal, Lara suddenly started to feel nervous as she watched the woman next to her, who seemed just as excited as she herself. Taking one last deep breath, the chef began to shower Dana's shoulder and neck with kisses, while moving her hand slowly down her body. Dana's breath caught when Lara slipped two fingers into her. The redhead gasped at the feeling of her fingers inside Dana's wetness. Slowly, she began to caress the other woman's clit with her thumb, while moving her fingers in and out of her.

"Oh, Lara...", the brunette moaned, leaning her head back into the pillows, the sound of her name sending another jolt through the chef's body.

Lara watched Dana's face for any signs of pain or discomfort, but all she could see was pure joy. The athlete's eyes were closed, her mouth half open, inviting Lara to kiss it. Seeing the smaller woman in a state of pure desire was driving her insane with lust. She began to develop a slow rhythm of thrusting her fingers in and out. Dana moved her hips along with her thrusts, moaning and grunting her approval. Suddenly, every muscle in the brunette's body tensed, she gripped the sheets hard, her back arched, her head fell back and she cried out Lara's name a couple of times in her orgasm. Lara smiled, proud of herself that she had been able to give Dana that much pleasure, feeling a little orgasmic herself.

When Dana's orgasm faded, Lara pulled her fingers out, licking them clean, tasting her lover's juices for the first time. She couldn't quite make out what it was that the athlete tasted like, but the taste was simply incredible, sweet and yet a little bitter.

"I really have to say, Lara", the tennis player said, her voice still husky from the lovemaking. "The way a person dances has nothing to do with his or her skills in bed...you were amazing."

Lara smiled. "Or I'm just a great dancer."

Both women laughed, sharing soft kisses in between, cuddling closer together. All of a sudden the athlete tightened her grip around the chef's waist, turning her over and onto her back. A devilish grin was on her lips as she began to caress Lara's body with her hands. The redhead felt her arousal return. Every inch of skin Dana touched felt on fire. The caresses continued, focusing on the chef's breasts for a while, before descending to her groin. Lara drew in her breath, when Dana's fingers slipped into her aching pussy.

"It's your turn, Lara.", the tennis player informed her, beginning the pleasurable torture.

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at WolfgalX: Who else could visit Lara that late or that early(depends on how you look at it)but Dana? lol...so you were right.

at soccergirl: Wow, that's a huge compliment, really, the TV series thing, I mean, thank you. As for letting Dana die, the cancer story line happens in season three, this is season one, so it's still a long time to go, but then again, I don't know if I could ever kill Dana...I and Lara of course love her way too much...

at auggy1984: Thank you. Hope you liked this one, too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten: Morning after**

When Lara awoke the next morning, lying on her stomach, she found herself entangled with Dana who was sleeping just behind her. The tennis player had one of her legs between Lara's, her head resting on the redhead's shoulderblades, her right arm wrapped around Lara's waist. There was no possible way for Lara to get out of bed without possibly waking the other woman-not that she wanted to get away-so she stayed where she was, enjoying the closeness of their naked bodies. Her body was still tingling with last night's sensations, her skin covered in a layer of dried sweat. Feeling highly satisfied with how her life was going, the sous chef sighed contentedly and closed her blue eyes again, yet didn't fall asleep.

After a while of simply lying around, Lara could feel Dana stir on top of her. The other woman seemed to be waking up. Slowly the tennis player rolled off of her, exposing the rest of Lara's naked skin. When the redhead found she could move again, she turned around, coming face to face with the athlete who had an amorous smile on her lips.

"Morning, beautiful.", Dana greeted her, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Morning to you, too, gorgeous.", the chef greeted back. "How'd you sleep?"

Dana's smile broadened. "Just wonderful, Lara. I had the most wonderful night in my life ever." Grinning, the brunette moved closer to Lara, wrapping her right arm around the other woman's waist.

"I'm glad you had, Dana.", Lara said, kissing the other woman's nose softly. "Do you have to train today?"

The tennis player shook her head. "No, I don't train on sundays. What about you? Do you have to work today, soup chef?"

The sous chef laughed at the use of "soup chef". "Thankfully no. Today's my free sunday, which means we can spend the whole day together.", she suggested, kissing Dana's nose again.

"Sounds like a plan to me.", the athlete said, snuggling into the taller woman, her forehead against the chef's chest. "What do you think, Lara, are we together now? You know, like in you're my girlfriend?", she asked after a short pause.

Lara couldn't help but smile at her words. "Well, Dana, if I remember correctly, you already introduced me as your girlfriend, didn't you?"

"Mmmh, yes.", the brunette murmured. "But, what I want to know, Lara, are you my girlfriend now?" Dana pulled herself slightly out of the embrace, looking at the taller woman.

Lara nodded her head, grinning happily. "Yes, I am, if you want me to be."

"I want you to be.", Dana stated, before pulling Lara's lips to her own.

Lara had to admit that it had happened somewhat fast. Last week she had kissed Dana for the very first time and now, after only a week and three dates, she was calling herself Dana's girlfriend. The redhead sighed contentedly after the kiss ended, watching her girlfriend, who had her eyes still closed.

"I could get used to waking up next to her.", the sous chef thought to herself, running her left hand over Dana's rosy cheek, the smile on Dana's face brightening at the loving gesture. The tennis player moved her hand up to hold Lara's hand in its place against her cheek. Suddenly, their peaceful moment was broken by the annoying ringing of a cell phone.

"Fuck, I knew I should have left it at home.", Dana cursed, getting out of bed and stalking into the living room, where she'd left her things on the couch.

Lara sat up in bed, admiring the view of a naked Dana, until the tennis player disappeared around the corner. "Her ass looks even better without her tennis skirt.", the chef whispered to herself. "Very nice, indeed."

-

A few minutes later Dana came back into the bedroom. She crawled back into bed and snuggled up to her girlfriend, resting her head on Lara's shoulder. "Alice just called.", she said. "She wanted to know, if we'll join them at breakfast later."

"I wouldn't mind joining your friends, they're really nice.", Lara answered the unspoken question, kissing the top of Dana's head.

The tennis player sighed heavily. "You are aware of the fact that Alice will ask us whether or not we made love tonight? You know, she's gonna notice our dorky, amorous, I-had-sex-smiles and she'll want all the details."

Lara shrugged. "So what, Dana? We did make love last night, didn't we? So, why should we lie about that?", she wondered aloud. "I mean, they're your friends, they'll know eventually. And with the details, we don't have to tell everything, do we?"

Dana shook her head slightly. "Okay, you convinced me.", she said, beginning to cover Lara's shoulder with tiny kisses. Lara felt the desire starting to flicker in her body as Dana moved her kisses from her shoulder to her neck.

"What are you doing, Dana?", she asked, knowing perfectly what the smaller woman was up to, but wanting to hear her say it.

The brunette left her place next to the chef, straddling her lap instead, her blue eyes shining with lust.

"Well, Lara, since we still have some time left...", she began, smiling a lascivious smile. "I'm trying to convince you to make love to me again."

The redhead didn't say anything in response. Instead she moved her hands behind the athlete's head, pulling her into a kiss.

-

Highly satisfied and with only a towel wrapped around her waist, her red hair still dripping wet from a recent shower, Lara walked into the bedroom, where she found Dana still in bed. The other woman's blue eyes lit up at her sight, a lecherous grin forming on her lips.

"Now, look at you, all wet and sexy.", Dana said, causing Lara to blush. "God, you're hot!"

"Thanks for telling me this, but...", Lara began, chuckling while opening her wardrobe. "I think you should get up already if we want to make it in time."

"Well, I didn't know there's a time limit, Lara.", the tennis player said, flirting, causing Lara to turn around towards her.

Raising her brows, the redhead stared at her girlfriend who seemed to be insatiable with a sudden. "We make love once and all of a sudden you can't get enough.", she teased at which the athlete blushed.

"How could I ever get enough of you?", Dana asked, obviously recovered and in a playful mood.

"Save that for later.", Lara ordered, rolling her eyes. "Right now I want you to get out of bed to get ready for breakfast."

The brunette sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll get ready.", she said, throwing the sheets off of herself. Finally out of bed, she walked up to Lara and kept staring into her eyes. When the staring continued without Dana saying anything, the sous chef was getting annoyed.

"Dana, would you please stop doing that, you're creeping me out.", Lara demanded, breaking the stare by turning her head to the side. "What do you want?"

The tennis player smiled, putting her hand under the taller woman's chin, forcing the redhead to look at her again. "Just this...", she said with the most dorky grin Lara had ever seen and before Lara had any chance to react, Dana gave her a short kiss on the lips, before turning on her heels and stalking out of the bedroom. "Oh, and you know what, we made love twice, if you remember.", she said over her shoulder, winking at the other woman.

Lara stood, staring after her girlfriend, shaking her head at how cute and sexy at the same time the other woman was.

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at SuperGirl06: I promise, I didn't think you'd have, lol. I'm gonna be honest with you, I enjoyed writing the banter, too, and I could really see it happen in my imagination, which is really great when it comes to Lara and Dana. Hope you liked this chapter, too.

at auggy1984: Thank you. Now, about there inexperiences, Dana has only ever been with two women before Lara, right, and little Miss Perkins wasn't on Alice's chart, so I assumed that neither of them had had a lot of experience in sex.

at WolfgalX: Well, could've been the mailman, just kidding. I totally agree with you about Dana and Lara's relationship being hot and yet sweet and caring, it's how I always saw them. So, I wanted theit first sex to be exactly like that, at least in my story.

at soccergirl: Thanks. About killing off Dana: I hate the fact that the "real" Dana died, makes me feel so depressed, so why would I go through that in my story? I don't think I could ever kill any of those two sweethearts off.

at Totallygay: I'm glad you liked it and I like being you're hero...makes me feel good. Hopefully you liked this chapter, too, since I would like to be showered in platonic friend kisses, you know...lol


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven: Detective Alice**

"You know, we should have taken that shower together, Lara.", Dana stated matter-of-factly, staring out of the front window of Lara's car. "Would have saved a lot of time, you know." She sighed heavily. "Now Alice is most definitely gonna be a total pain in the ass about this."

Lara chuckled at Dana's words, throwing a quick sideway glance at the other woman before returning her concentration back on the road ahead. She could tell Dana was annoyed about the possibility of being interrogated about last night. "Do you really think we would have saved time by showering together?", she asked, drawling. "I mean, with your sudden insatiableness..." She trailed off, taking another sideway glance at the athlete.

"What's with it, huh?", Dana asked.

"Well...", Lara began, smirking, her voice low. "We're talking about a shower here, Dana, you know. I mean, the two of us, naked and wet, in the shower, with water spraying down on us...do you really think we would have saved time that way?"

Dana cleared her throat once, then twice before actually speaking. "No, not really...", she said in a low voice as if embarrassed.

"I didn't think so.", the chef said, smiling triumphatically.

--

Lara followed Dana into The Planet's patio to where Dana's friends were sitting. The four women had occupied the very same table they had been sitting at when Lara had first met them the other morning. Wondering if that table was some kind of a regular's table, the redhead took a deep breath, inwardly preparing herself for the impending interrogation.

"Look who's here, guys.", Alice greeted the couple when she had noticed them approaching, smiling a huge smile. "It's the lovebirds."

At Alice's outburst the other three women looked up from whatever conversation they had been in, smiling welcoming smiles at Lara and Dana.

"Come on, sit with us.", Shane said, gesturing to the two free chairs, obviously reserved for them.

They did just as Shane said and sat down at the table, saying their good mornings. Lara watched the faces of the four smiling women, returning their smiles, when Dana suddenly leaned towards her.

"I don't think it was the right thing to do, Lara.", the tennis player whispered so that only Lara could hear.

Not knowing what the other woman was talking about, the chef turned her head into her direction, watching the brunette questioningly. "What wasn't, Dana?", she asked somewhat alarmed, suddenly fearing her girlfriend was talking about their lovemaking.

"Coming here to have breakfast with them. I mean, look at how they look at us, Lara. We should have just stayed in bed.", the athlete explained.

To Lara's relief Dana wasn't talking about last night, which meant she didn't regret having made love. "So we should have stayed in bed, huh, Dana?", Lara wondered, her voice playful.

Dana simply nodded. "Yeah."

"To do what exactly?", Lara kept on teasing, watching the blush crawl over Dana's cheeks. "You're unbelievable, Dana.", she whispered with a smile, shaking her head.

"Now, now, no more secrets, you two.", Alice spoke up, causing the two lovers to turn around. "What is there to talk about that we aren't supposed to hear, huh?", she asked, her curiousity obviously peaked.

"Nothing, Al.", Dana answered, her voice dripping with annoyance.

"Oh, yeah, Dana? Then why did you blush when little Miss Lara Perkins whispered something to you?", the journalist wanted to know, watching her friend intently.

"Little Miss Lara Perkins?", Lara repeated the nickname she had just gotten.

"Like your new nickname, Lara?", Shane, who was sitting next to the chef, asked with a smile.

"Kinda.", Lara said. "It's a little long, though, don't you think?"

Shane chuckled. "Yeah, but you could always ask Al to shorten it, you know.", she suggested.

The redhead raised her brows. "Then it would be like what, Shane?", she wondered. "Lara Perkins? Not really a nickname, is it?"

The black haired woman grinned, shaking her head slightly. "Guess not."

Their little conversation was interrupted when Alice suddenly addressed Lara, causing the sous chef to look at her in surprise. "What do you think you're doing, Perkins?", she asked, her voice rather teasing. "Stop flirting and listen to me or rather tell me about last night. I wanna know all the dirty stuff and since you're girlfriend here won't tell, I'll have to make you talk."

Looking from Alice's curious brown eyes to Dana, who was shaking her head quite fervently, Lara decided to keep quiet. "My lips are sealed.", was the only thing she said, smiling a mysterious smile at the journalist.

Alice growled lowly, seemingly giving up for the moment, muttering something that sounded like "You're not gonna get away like that.", she returned her attention to the other couple at the table.

"Thanks, Lara.", Dana whispered into the chef's ear, sounding rather relieved.

Lara grinned. "I'm not sure we're off the hook yet, Dana.", she said, turning to face the brunette again.

The tennis player sighed. "I'm afraid so."

All of a sudden Bette rose from her seat. "Okay, guys, I'm off to work.", she said, bowing down to kiss Tina goodbye. "See you later."

Lara smiled at the little display of affection between the two women, hoping she'd have something like that with Dana in a couple of years, too. She smiled a bright smile at her girlfriend and gave her a short kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?", the tennis player asked surprised, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Do I need a specific reason to kiss you?", Lara asked playfully, watching Dana with an amused smile.

The athlete nodded, grinning broadly.

"Well...", Lara began, lowering her voice while leaning towards Dana. "You are the reason.", she said, causing the other woman to blush ever so slightly. "You know, just looking at you makes me wanna kiss you.", the redhead continued, keeping her voice low so only Dana could hear.

The tennis player started giggling at her girlfriend's words, putting her right hand on Lara's neck and pulling her closer. The redhead couldn't help but smile a very amorous smile.

"Aww, aren't they cute?", Lara heard Tina say and smiled even more.

"Yeah, disgustingly cute.", Alice replied. "Could you two stop behaving like lovesick teenagers?", she added, addressing the two lovers, who pulled apart at Alice's words, grinning toothy grins.

"Al, let them go.", Shane interjected, smiling a knowing smile at Lara and Dana. "Allright, I gotta go. There's a client waiting for me.", she said, standing from her seat.

Tina rose as well. "Could you give me a ride home, Shane?", she asked.

"Sure thing, Tee.", the hairstylist simply said. "I'll see you around, guys."

Lara watched the two woman walk away from the table and smiled happily, feeling as if she'd known them forever. Sighing contentedly, she turned back towards her girlfriend, noticing the weird look on the athlete's face. The other woman seemed uncomfortable. "Are you okay, Dana?", the sous chef asked out of concern.

Dana nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine.", she said, reaching for Lara's hand. "I just...you know, maybe we should get going, too?", she suggested.

The sudden change in the smaller woman's behaviour confused Lara. The brunette had gone from flirting to somewhat scared in a matter of seconds, for no apparent reason. "Dana, what's wrong?", the chef asked, not knowing what was going on inside the other woman's head.

"Alice.", Dana simply said, gesturing towards the quirky blonde.

As Lara turned around to see if something was wrong with Alice, she was greeted by the dirtiest smirk she had ever seen. Alice's brown eyes were sparkling dangerously, her gaze focused on the two lovers. The redhead was taken aback by this, wondering what the hell was going on.

"I told you, you wouldn't get away.", the journalist suddenly spoke, smirking. "Now, it's time to tell the truth."

Realization hit Lara like a sledge hammer and she couldn't help but blush a deep crimson-Alice wanted to talk about last night, the long dreaded interrogation was about to take place. The blonde giggled in anticipation, got up from her seat to sit down right next to Dana and leaned towards the tennis player as if about to tell a secret.

"I'm sorry, Al, but we have to go.", Dana said, obviously trying to get away, about to get up, but Alice grabbed her arm.

"Oh, no, Dana, we are not finished.", the blonde told them. "And don't go like "We did sleep in the same bed, but we didn't have sex.", because, you know, you are totally giving off this vibe..."

"What vibe, Alice?", Lara wondered, raising her brows questioningly.

The smirk on the journalist's face widened. "Well, Lara, the "we had sex last night and no one else in the world matters"-vibe.", she said. "I mean, you two basically scream sex. So don't even try to tell me differently."

Dana sighed lowly, turning around towards the chef and looking into the taller woman's eyes as if searching for help. Lara shrugged. She didn't see any other way to get away from Alice than to tell her the truth, even if it meant to talk to another person about the most private thing between Dana and herself.

"Fine, Al, you win.", the tennis player said, turning back towards her friend again. "What do you want to know?"

Alice gave a little laugh. "Basically, I just want you to admit that you had sex last night.", she answered, her eyes watching the two lovers intendly.

"Okay.", Dana began, sounding rather annoyed once again. "Yes, Alice, we did have sex.", she admitted, blushing.

Lara watched Alice's reaction to the athlete's confession. She had expected her to leap out of her seat, shouting something like "Yes, I knew it." and telling everyone at The Planet that they'd had sex. To her relief Alice didn't do anything like that. The blonde laughed triumphatically, the smirk on her face getting even dirtier.

"So? Was it any good?", Alice asked. "Did you enjoy it? Did you have an orgasm?"

The redhead blushed once again, opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came. She just didn't know what to say to that, although she could have answered every question with a simple yes. Looking at her girlfriend, she noticed that the brunette was just as speechless.

The journalist giggled. "Speechless, huh?", she said, nudging Dana playfully. "I take it you did enjoy it, didn't you?"

Lara smiled. Of course she had enjoyed making love, especially the part when Dana had made love to her. She could still recall the feeling of Dana's fingers driving her into ecstasy, the simple thought causing her cheeks to literally burn. Just as Alice was about to ask another surely intimate question, a cell phone rang.

"Shit!", the journalist cursed, reaching into her pants pocket to get her cell phone. "Oh, fuck, I have to go to work.", she said, checking the caller's ID. "Good for you."

With that the blonde got up and left, talking or rather arguing with the person on the phone. Lara and Dana watched her walk away.

"Whoever just called is my hero.", Dana said when Alice was out of their sight, letting out a relieved sigh.

Lara nodded. "Say that again. She wouldn't have stopped, would she?"

"No, not until we would have told her everything and by saying everything, I mean really everything.", the tennis player said, running a hand through her hair.

"I know what you mean.", the sous chef said, thinking about Simon. The waiter, and one of her best friends, could be just as curious. Maybe she could introduce him to Alice one day.

Dana sighed again, resting her head on the other woman's shoulder. "And you know what's the worst about it?"

"No, but I think you'll tell me?", Lara said with a small chuckle.

"Alice is a total gossip, you know, can't keep anything to herself. The whole lesbian LA will know about us having had sex by tomorrow.", the tennis player said, sounding rather distressed.

"That's not so bad, Dana.", the chef said, taking her girlfriend's hands. "You know, people talk about lots of things, right? And, you know, we are the ones making love to each other, they are just talking about it."

Dana nodded, lifting her head from its resting place. "So, you mean, they're just jealous?", she asked, watching the taller woman intendly.

"Totally jealous, Dana.", the redhead answered, giving Dana a reassuring kiss on the lips. "Now, about what you've said earlier...", she began, smiling a rather lascivious smile.

The brunette raised her brows, seemingly clueless. "What have I said earlier?"

Lara's smile widened. "Well, you did mention how you would have prefered having stayed in bed.", she said in a flirtatious voice.

"Oh, I did?", the athlete asked, returning the flirtatious smile.

"Hmm, you definitely did and, you know, it sounds like a really good idea to me.", Lara answered, getting up from her seat and pulling Dana up as well.

The brunette giggled. "Who's unsatiable know, huh?", she wondered, following Lara to the car.

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at everyone: God, it took me so long to write this, have been in what is called a writer's block, but know my muse is back...and so is this story.

at kickboxing.gurl: Thank you. Lara and Dana always were sweet and hot, weren't they?

at WolfgalX: Well, Alice didn't tease them to no ends, thanks to my writer's block, but maybe she'll do that later, we'll see. As for Lara sneaking peeks, I think if I was her, I'd do the same, lol, but you've said that already...

at SuperGirl06: Thank you. Hope you liked Alice's interrogation, although it turned out to be rather short.

at auggy1984: Thank you. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve: At Dana's**

Now, it was tuesday. Lara's shift was over and she was on her way to the locker room when she passed by the tennis courts. She hadn't seen but a glimpse of her girlfriend since sunday, so she decided to watch her for a little while before heading home. The chef's blue eyes immediately found the person they were searching for, following her every move, noticing for the umpteenth time just how hot the tennis player was.

Dana was hopping from one foot to the other while moving backwards, all the while closely observed by her coach. All of a sudden Lara could hear the faint ringing of a cell phone, followed by Dana's coach saying something about taking a break before he walked off, leaving Dana by herself. Seeing this as a chance to talk to her girlfriend, the redhead decided to make herself noticed.

"Hey, Dana.", she called out, causing the athlete to look up and around, but not finding her. "Over here, by the fence.", Lara added, when Dana couldn't find her.

The brunette turned her head into the direction of the fence, smiled when she spotted the other woman and came jogging towards her.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Isn't your shift supposed to be over?", the tennis player asked when she had reached her girlfriend.

"Yes, but I wanted to see you before I head home.", Lara said, grinning at the other woman through the chain-link fence. "And I was wondering if I could see you tonight?", she added. "Maybe at your place for a change, I'm dying to meet Mr. Piddles.", the chef finished with a laugh.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea to me, Lara.", the athlete replied.

"Okay, I'll come over then. Would eight o'clock be okay with you?"

"Sure, eight o'clock is fine."

The sous chef smiled. "Okay, I'll see you tonight then."

Dana nodded with a sweet smile. "Yeah, see you tonight.", she said, before she walked back onto the court.

Lara watched her walk away, looking forward to the evening when she would finally get to see Dana's place and most importantly meet Mr. Piddles, Dana's feline friend.

--

A few minutes before eight Lara stood in front of Dana' house, dressed in a plain grey t-shirt and green slacks, a plastic bag in her hand and a backpack over her shoulders. She was a little exited to finally get to see Dana's house from the inside. Taking a deep breath, she rang the bell. She didn't have to wait too long for her girlfriend to open the door. Dana greeted her with a sweet smile followed by a soft kiss.

"Hi.", Lara said.

"Hi to you, too.", Dana said, stepping aside to let the other woman in. "What's in these bags?", she asked, pointing to Lara's bags.

The redhead turned around, grinning. "Oh, I brought some food.", she explained, holding up the plastic bag.

The athlete raised her brows. "Take out or self made?", she asked.

"A light dinner à la Lara.", Lara chuckled. "I also brought some things I'm gonna need in the morning, you know, like toothbrush and such things.", she joked, refering to the other woman's late night visit.

Dana gave a little laugh, taking the bag from her girlfriend's hand. "Come on in and make yourself at home, while I take this into the kitchen.", she said and started to walk off.

While the other woman was busy in the kitchen, the sous chef followed her advice and took a tour around the house. The place was bigger than her own apartment, given Dana's surely big paycheck, but it didn't lack cozyness. The furnishing was pretty stylish and modern, but didn't lack Dana's very own charme. Lara noticed all the trophies the tennis player had won already. When she had seen enough, she made her way into the kitchen where she found Dana unpacking the dinner bag. The chef walked behind the other woman, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman's waist and resting her head on her shoulder.

"Do you like my place?", the tennis player asked.

"Yeah, it's big, but nevertheless pretty comfortable, but I didn't see Mr. Piddles.", Lara answered, at which the brunette turned in her arms.

"Oh, he's probably sleeping in some corner, but he'll come check on us sooner or later.", Dana told her and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck, before pulling her head down for another soft kiss. "Well, I'm hungry, Lara. What about you?"

-

The two women sat on the couch in Dana's living room, eating their dinner, chatting lightly, when Dana's feline friend made his appearance. He came walking into the living room, hopping onto the couch between the two women, where he sat and watched the foreign redhead carefully.

"Lara, meet Mr. Piddles, my feline, furry, cuddly boy.", Dana laughed, running her hand over her cat's soft fur.

Lara smiled. "Hey, Mr. Piddles. I'm Lara. Dana's told me so much about you.", she said, holding out her hand as if wanting to shake hands.

Mr. Piddles kept watching the chef for a little while, before he suddenly got up and plopped down right next to Lara, letting out a purr. Lara giggled and began stroking the cat softly.

"Seems like he likes you, Lara.", the tennis player said. She smiled first at Mr. Piddles and then at her girlfriend, before leaning in to get herself another soft kiss.

"Yeah, and it seems like you like me, too, huh?", the redhead teased, raising her eyebrows.

"Really? What makes you think so?", Dana teased back, her head resting on the other woman's shoulder.

"Just assuming, Dana.", Lara said, a light chuckle evident in her voice. With Dana and Mr. Piddles both snuggled against her, she suddenly felt like a gigantic teddy bear.

-

When Dana had decided to go wash the dishes after some cuddly minutes spent with Lara, the other woman had willingly offered her help. At first Dana had refused to let her help, since the redhead was her guest and guests didn't have to do these kind of things, but Lara had insisted on helping her and so Dana had complied. Now the two women stood in the kitchen, Dana washing the dishes, Lara drying them. Although it wasn't really that much work to do, the two women took their time, since there was no need to hurry; the had the whole night in front of themselves.

"Guess that's the last piece.", Lara said, drying the last plate and putting it away.

"Yeah, what do you want to do now, Lara?", Dana asked, drying her hands, while stepping a little closer to the other woman who had her back turned towards her. The tennis player wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist, at which Lara jumped a little before relaxing into the embrace.

"I don't know.", the chef whispered. "What do you want to do now?"

"What do I want?", Dana repeated the question slowly, her breath on Lara's neck, making the taller woman shiver ever so slightly. "Hmm...I can think of something..."

"Wha-what is it?", Lara asked, her voice almost failing her. She could only try to imagine what the athlete was thinking of, but if it was anything like what she herself was thinking of, then they wouldn't be in the kitchen for much longer.

"Well...", the tennis player began after a pause. "...what I'm thinking about does involve you, me and the couch, but surely not in the way you might think, Lara.", she said, turning the redhead in her arms. "That might happen later." With that she grabbed Lara's hand and led her back down the stairs into the living room. "As for now, I just wanna be close to you."

Smiling at each other, the two women sat on the couch, snuggled against one another.

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at auggy1984: Thank you again.

at WolfgalX: Well, my muse did return, lol, so you don't have to worry about any Dana/Lara withdrawal.

at kickboxing.gurl: Thank you. I miss them, too, and, you know, they never got the screen time they would have deserved to get...in my opinion...and, you know, if I had had a say in it, I would have centered the show around Dana and Lara.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter thirteen: Dinner à la Dana**

Like every friday morning Lara stood at her working station in the country club's kitchen, doing the prep work for the rest of the day. While she was cutting tomatoes, the sous chef hummed a happy song to herself, well aware of the weird looks her co-workers were giving her. They were used to their sous chef being in a good mood most of the time, but recently Lara literally glowed, smiling goofy smiles, humming happy tunes, daydreaming.

"Lara, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a customer who wants to speak to you.", Simon, the waiter and a friend to Lara, addressed the chef, causing her to stop her song.

She turned towards the smaller man, not in the mood to argue with a customer about food when all she wanted to do was daydream about her girlfriend. "Why me, Simon?", she asked, her voice dripping with annoyance. "Can't anyone else do that?"

Simon shook his head. "No, Lara, the lady asked for the sous chef and that would be you, right?"

Lara sighed in defeat. "Yeah, that would be me.", she said. "This lady, what does she want? Breakfast hasn't even started."

"She didn't tell me.", Simon said with a huge grin on his lips, grabbing Lara by the shoulders and pushing her towards the swinging doors leading to the dining area. "Why don't you go find out yourself?"

The redhead sighed again. She knew how the club's costumers could be when they didn't like the food. Some would just order a new plate, some would tell her what was wrong with their meal and in the worst case they would argue with her. Lara really wondered why this lady felt the need to talk to her that early in the morning, since breakfast wouldn't start for another hour. Reaching the dining area, she found the room completely empty.

"Strange.", she whispered, shaking her head. "Very funny, Simon."

Suddenly, the chef felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist from behind and kisses placed on her neck. Knowing it was Dana, Lara couldn't help but smile. "So, you are the lady who asked for the sous chef, Dana.", she said, turning in the embrace and coming face to face with her girlfriend.

"How did you know it was me?", Dana asked, smiling up at the taller woman.

"The hands and the kisses told me, you know.", the chef answered, her forehead touching the other woman's. "No one else touches me like that."

The tennis player blushed slightly at her words, looking insanely cute.

"So, I hear you wanted to talk to the sous chef?", Lara asked, breaking the hug.

Dana nodded, her eyes taking in every detail of Lara-or so it seemed to the chef. "Yes, I do.", the brunette said, finally locking her eyes onto her girlfriend's. "And I gotta tell you, Lara, you kinda look like you just killed someone.", she added, pointing towards the chef's apron.

The redhead grinned and looked down herself. Noticing the red spots all over her once white apron and chef's jacket, she started to giggle lightly. "Are you scared of me now, Dana?", she joked.

The tennis player raised her brows. "Do I have a reason to be?"

Lara thought for a moment, watching the amused smile on her girlfriend's lips. "Well, you never know what I might do to you while you're asleep.", she said, trying to sound dangerous.

Dana took a step backwards, obviously playing along, giving a shocked face. "You wouldn't hurt me, would you?"

There was a short silence, both women looking at each other with shining eyes.

"No, I wouldn't.", the sous chef finally said, closing the distance between them again and pulling the smaller woman into a hug. "But there are other things, you know, pleasurable things...", she whispered into Dana's ear.

The athlete blushed at the words and broke the hug again, clearing her throat. "Well, Lara...", she began, sounding as nervous as ever. "Would you like to come over tonight after work?"

The chef smiled. "I would love to, Dana. Do you want me to bring something for dinner?", she asked at which Dana shook her head.

"No, let me take care of that, Lara.", the athlete said with a smile. "Oh, could you bring one of those chef's uniforms, too?"

-

After saying her goodbye to Dana, Lara made her way back into the kitchen, grinning happily. Seeing Dana had made her feel ecstatic, her heart pounding in her chest, the butterflies going wild in her stomach. Lara picked up the abandoned knife to go back to cutting tomatoes when Simon leaned over her shoulder. The chef inwardly shook her head at this, knowing how curious Simon could be.

"So?", the waiter began, his curiousity showing in his voice.

The redhead sighed and turned around, coming face to face with the black haired man. "So what?", she asked, trying to sound annoyed.

Simon grinned. "You seem awfully happy after a discussion with a customer, don't you, Lara?", he teased.

Lara shrugged. "Well, maybe the lady praised my cooking?", she said, keeping her voice indifferent.

The waiter cocked a brow, moving closer to the sous chef until his mouth was level with her ear. "Or maybe she praised you for last night?", he whispered, stepping back a little.

Lara could feel the temperature in her cheeks going up as she blushed a deep crimson, the color of her face matching her hair, turning her eyes away from her friend. She tried to come up with something to respond, but the words wouldn't come to her.

"So she did praise you for last night, huh?", Simon said before he started to laugh.

"Fuck you, Simon.", the redhead muttered, looking up again and throwing a cold glare at the black haired man.

Holding up his hands in defence, Simon stopped laughing, his brown eyes watching the chef carefully. "I'm sorry, Lara, I was just teasing.", he apologized.

"Alright, apology accepted.", Lara said, smiling again.

--

Around quarter to eleven Lara stood outside Dana's house, feeling just a little tired from work. As promised she had brought along one clean chef's uniform, wondering what Dana wanted to use it for. Maybe she had developped a fetish for these uniforms and wanted to use it in some kind of roleplay? The redhead had to admit that that thought sounded very hot. She rang the bell again, shifting her weight from one foot to the other while waiting for her girlfriend to let her in.

"Hey, how are you?", the tennis player greeted her when she opened the door, smiling one of her cutest smiles.

"Oh, I'm a little tired from work, but fine.", the chef answered, returning the smile.

Dana stepped aside, gesturing the taller woman to come in.

"So, have you ordered dinner yet, Dana? I'm starving.", Lara asked once they had reached the living room, but the athlete only shook her head-much to Lara's surprise. "You didn't?"

"No, I remember telling you that I'd take care of it.", Dana said, sounding totally calm. "Did you bring the chef's uniform?"

The chef was puzzled. What did the other woman have in mind? Lara kept looking at her girlfriend, not reacting to her question.

"Lara, did you bring the uniform?", the brunette repeated her question.

"Huh?" Lara snapped out of her trance-like state and held out the bag she was carrying. "Yeah, it's in here."

With a huge grin on her lips Dana took the offered bag and disappeared, mumbling a low "Thank you". The redhead stared after her, still having no idea what Dana might be planning. She let out a soft sigh and decided to wait for Dana's return. Maybe she'd tell her then.

-

Ten minutes later-Lara sat on the couch, going through some sports magazine she had found on the table-Dana still hadn't returned from wherever she had disappeared to. Suddenly, Lara heard a door fall closed and looked up from the magazine, tossing it back on the table. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Dana reenter the living room. The tennis player was dressed in the white chef's uniform, completing the look with a chef's hat and a stripy apron. The uniform looked a little oversized due to Dana being smaller than Lara, but Lara didn't mind in the least. She actually found it rather cute.

"Now, what do you think?", Dana asked, standing in the doorway.

Lara didn't respond. She just smiled at her girlfriend and got up from the couch. Closing the distance between them with a few steps, the redhead pulled the athlete into a hug. As soon as the hug ended, their lips met in a soft kiss.

"Could I pass as chef, Lara?", the brunette asked again, causing Lara to smile.

"Well, you do look like a chef, Dana, but I don't know about your cooking abilities...", the sous chef said. She was still amazed how stunningly gorgeous the other woman looked in a chef's uniform. But then again Dana did look amazing in almost everything, so it couldn't be the uniform.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, Lara...", Dana started after a short silence. "I'm not half as good as you when it comes to cooking, but I don't think I'm that bad. So, don't worry, my food isn't going to poison you."

Lara did a mock sigh, earning herself a nudge on her shoulder. "Oh, so you are gonna play chef tonight, huh?", she asked with a little chuckle attached to her voice, finally realizing what Dana had in mind.

Dana nodded, a proud smile on her lips. Once again she was looking just adorable to Lara and so the taller woman moved down to get herself another kiss.

"And what does the chef recommend for the day?", the redhead asked playfully.

"It's a surprise, Lara. You will have to wait.", was all Dana answered before she walked off again.

Left by herself once again, the sous chef took her former position on the couch again and went back to read the sports magazine.

-

"Fuck!" The loud curse caused Lara to look up from the magazine. She didn't know what had happened in the kitchen that had caused Dana to curse and felt worry come over herself. Cooking could be dangerous, Lara knew from experience. She just had to look at the back of her right hand to see the proof, another burn-thankfully only second-degree -from uncontrolled hot fat. Just thinking back at the incident hurt. Lara jumped from the couch and ran into the kitchen to check if Dana was alright. She found the athlete sitting on a chair, her head in her hands, but seemingly safe.

"Dana, is everything okay?", the chef asked, her voice full of concern.

Dana muttered something Lara couldn't make out, keeping her head in her hands. Slowly Lara walked over to her, kneeing down next to her chair once she had reached her.

"Dana, what happened?", she asked, her voice still concerned.

When she didn't get an answer, the sous chef grabbed Dana's hands into her own, forcing the other woman to look at her. To her relief the brunette didn't seem to be in pain, but rather embarrassed about something. Lara let out a deep sigh, giving a reassuring smile. Then she noticed the red sauce covering huge parts of Dana's white uniform.

"I can't even cook a lousy tomato sauce.", the tennis player finally spoke, shaking her head. "First I put too much salt in it, making it taste like..." Dana pulled a disgusted face. "...and then it spills over or should I say, explodes like I planted some kinda bomb at the bottom of the pot." The tennis player sounded really distressed. Lara hushed her, wrapping her arms around her. She was finding it funny how Dana freaked out about a common kitchen accident-at least to her-but she also wanted to cheer the smaller woman up again, hating to see her so distressed.

"It's okay, Dana.", Lara told the athlete, her voice calm and tender. "Things like that happen to me all the time and I'm a sous chef, you know. Once I was making mousse au chocolat and I ended up using salt instead of sugar." Now Lara was the one pulling a disgusted face, recalling the awful taste. "God, it tasted like shit and the head chef got so mad at me."

Dana smiled a little. "Really?"

"Yes, he was totally running on adrenaline that day, because we had to prepare the menue for some family-get-together and when I messed up the dessert, he kinda reached his boiling point and released his anger on me.", the redhead explained. She could still hear the head chef's words ringing in her ears when she thought back at that day:

"Are you completely insane? Do you want to ruin us all? Do you think this is funny? We don't have time for jokes, Miss Perkins, so you better pull yourself together. These people are important financiers. You are risking your job here and not just your job, Miss Perkins."

"Oh, poor baby.", Dana said in her cutest voice, causing Lara to smile.

The sous chef pulled the other woman from her sitting position and looked around the kitchen, deciding to fix the mess. "How about you go and get out of this uniform, while I try and fix some dinner.", she suggested.

Dana tried to protest. "No, you don't have to. I crea..." She didn't get to finish her sentence, since Lara placed a kiss on her lips.

"No complaints. Go!", the redhead demanded, pointing towards the door.

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at kickboxing.gurl: Thank you. Hope you keep your obsession with this story.

at auggy1984: Thanks for reviewing. It's always nice to hear what people think about the chapters.

at WolfgalX: I totally agree with you about the teddy bear thing and I'm glad you had fun reading the chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter fourteen: Insomnia**

There were barely any sounds coming from the streets outside as Lara lay in bed, but then again it was still early in the morning on that saturday and she wasn't in her usual neighborhood. She had woken up half an hour ago, her arms wrapped tightly around Dana's waist, her head buried in Dana's shoulder, and hadn't found the will to get up. Dana had still been fast asleep when the sous chef had leaned over to see if she was awake and the sight of her girlfriend, who had had a small smile on her lips, had made Lara feel all warm and fuzzy, her heartbeat quickening. She had snuggled back into the sheets, pulling Dana closer to herself, enjoying the moment of closeness. Since she had moved to LA almost three years ago, the redhead hadn't been in any relationship. She had had a few dates, but that was it, no falling asleep together, no waking up together. Dana was different. The tennis player had been the first woman in a long time that had caught her interest for real, making her fall in love. Lara smiled, feeling totally at peace. She brushed Dana's hair aside and placed a soft kiss on the athlete's neck. To her surprise the other woman began to giggle, turning in her arms.

"I was already wondering when you'd make yourself noticed.", the brunette said, smiling an amorous smile.

Lara raised her brows, playing offended. "So, you were awake all this time and didn't bother telling me, huh?"

"Hmm, I woke up a while ago...", Dana said, sounding contented. "...but, you know, I was enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in your arms too much to let you know I was awake, Lara. I thought you might want to take advantage of me then."

"You thought so, huh?", the redhead asked, grinning. "What do you think I am, Dana? A sex addict?" Lara could see the blush crawling up the smaller woman's face, making her look all the more irresistible to her.

"No, but I know just how much you like sex.", Dana stated somewhat matter-of-factly, although her eyes were shining brightly.

The chef chuckled, feeling playfulness well up inside her. "Oh, so you don't like sex?"

The question caused the tennis player to blush even more. "Well, no, uh, umm, that's not what I wanted to say.", she stammered.

Lara raised her brows again. She loved teasing Dana. "Of course not.", she said, her voice filled with sarcasm.

All of a sudden the athlete got all serious, the smile vanished from her face and she stared at the taller woman. "I can proof it to you if you want.", she said with a seriousness in her voice that caused Lara's heart to race.

"As much as I would love to, Dana...", the sous chef began, noticing the disappointment on her girlfriend's face as soon as she started. "...I have to go to the dry cleaners. I haven't been there in a while and I'm kinda running out of clean uniforms, so..."

Dana nodded, letting go of Lara. The redhead smiled and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "I will see you later at the country club, okay?"

"You bet you will."

With that Lara tossed the sheets off of herself and got out of bed. She picked up her clothes from the other night, as well as the chef's uniform she had brought and walked towards the door.

"Lara...", Dana called out to her just as she was about to leave the bedroom, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. "Do you really wanna leave in these clothes?"

The chef looked down herself and realized she was in a pair of Dana's shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. "Why? Do I look so terrible in this?", she asked.

The brunette shook her head. "No, you look great."

"Then it should be okay, right?", the redhead said, turning around again, about to leave. As she was walking out of the bedroom, she could hear the rustling of sheets, followed by the sound of bare feet on carpet. She couldn't help but smile, slowing down just a little bit, and suddenly she found herself in Dana's embrace. The tennis player had her arms tightly wrapped around Lara's waist as if she was afraid the taller woman would disappear once released from the hold.

"You don't think you can leave just like this.", the sous chef heard her girlfriend say, feeling the other woman's lips press into the back of her neck.

Lara grinned. "Watch me.", she said, half-heartedly trying to get out of the hold, but the athlete wouldn't let her go.

"Watch you do what?", Dana asked playfully, placing just another kiss on the back of Lara's neck.

The redhead melted at the soft touch, feeling her heartbeat quickening. She smiled, placed her hands on top of her girlfriend's and sunk into the embrace, once again engulfed in the love coming from Dana. The brunette really had put a spell on her and Lara wanted to be under this spell for the rest of her life.

"You still haven't answered me.", Dana suddenly said.

Lara kept silent, thinking of something silly to say, something that would make Dana laugh, since she loved hearing Dana laugh.

"Tongue-tied, huh?" The athlete chuckled, bringing her lips to the taller woman's shoulder, placing small kisses everywhere, making Lara forget whatever she had wanted to say. The sous chef moved her head to the side, letting out a soft sigh. She could feel Dana smile against her skin and closed her eyes, having absolutely no intention to leave already.

--

The dry cleaners was almost empty when Lara arrived later that morning which suited the young woman just fine. She didn't think she'd have the patience to stand in a queue at that very moment, feeling totally energetic after spending the morning in bed, wrapped in her girlfriend's arms. What more could she ask for? As far as she was concerned her life was going just perfect. Walking up to the counter, she gave the elderly woman behind it a warm smile.

"Need your uniforms clean again, eh?", the other woman asked in a friendly tone, returning the chef's smile.

Lara nodded. "Yeah, I'm kinda running out of clean ones...", she said with a chuckle, sitting the backpack she was carrying onto the counter.

Although the apartment building she lived at did have a couple of washing machines, the redhead prefered coming to the dry cleaners when her chef's uniforms needed to be cleaned. She knew from experience that the people working at the dry cleaners were able to make even the most dirties chef's jacket look like a brand new one-something the washing machines did have trouble with.

"Oh my God, what happened to this one?", the elderly woman, Ronda, suddenly asked, ripping Lara out of her thoughts.

Looking up to see what Ronda was talking about, the sous chef couldn't help but grin widely, seeing the stenched chef's jacket Dana had worn just a couple of hours ago. The tennis player had looked absolutely gorgeous in it, causing Lara to wonder if maybe she herself was the one developping a fetish for uniforms instead of Dana. "Tomato sauce.", she answered, thinking back at the incident. "My girlfriend tried to cook dinner for us.", she added when she noticed the funny look on the other woman's face, not really noticing the use of girlfriend.

"And it didn't go as planned." The other woman smiled at the chef, seemingly not minding the implications of the sous chef's sexual orientation.

Lara shook her head, chuckling. "No, not quite, but I did appreciate the gesture.", she said, recalling how Dana had been whining about being a lousy cook. The redhead had no idea what could have caused the sauce to explode the way Dana had told her and she had to admit that just imaging the strange explosion and the surely shocked expression on her girlfriend's face made her laugh.

"Well, you can come by and pick these up on tuesday.", Ronda said after examining the rest of the uniforms in the backpack.

--

Lara lay in bed, eyes wide open, earbuds in her ears, staring at the ceiling. She had been trying to fall asleep for more than two hours now, to no avail, her body just wouldn't relax. Turning to the left and taking a look at her alarm clock, she found it was already past two in the morning.

"Just great.", she groaned, closing her eyes in frustration. "And I have to work early in the morning."

She switched off her MP3-Player, tossed the sheets off of her body and got out of bed. Running a hand through her long red hair, she sighed and made her way into the living room, where she sat down on the couch in her usual cross-legged position. The chef had no idea why she was being that restless all of a sudden. She had never had problems falling asleep, especially since being with Dana. The two of them had spent most of their nights together in the last two weeks and Lara quickly pondered calling her girlfriend.

"Hell, no, what would that seem like?", she reasoned with herself in her thoughts. "Hey, Dana, I can't sleep without you next to me?", the sous chef laughed at the thought, wondering if she had already gotten used to being with the brunette so much that not being with her made her whole body restless.

Lara continued contemplating the idea of calling Dana for a little while longer until her frustration won over. Giving a small groan, the redhead walked over to the phone and dialed Dana's number-a number she knew by heart. She let the phone ring a couple of times, but no answer. Just as she was about to hang up, she heard the sound of the phone being picked up.

"Hello?", came Dana voice. The other woman sounded terribly groggy and Lara immediately felt bad for having woken her up this late.

"Hi, Dana, it's me.", the chef greeted her girlfriend, her voice low and apologetic.

"Lara?", the other woman asked, sounding rather surprised and wide awake with a sudden. "Is something wrong?"

The sous chef shook her head, smiling at the athlete's sudden concern. "No, everything's fine...it's just...you know...", she trailed off.

"God, Lara, what is it?", Dana asked in a slightly high-pitched voice. "You're scaring me..."

Lara felt stupid with a sudden. Maybe calling the tennis player hadn't been her best idea. "I can't sleep, that's all.", she admitted, her head hung, although the other woman couldn't see that. "I feel so fucking restless, you know. I kept tossing and turning in bed, I listened to music...I don't know what's wrong with me, Dana."

Dana chuckled. "And now you call me for advice?"

"No, not for advice.", Lara said, shaking her head once again. "You know, I was wondering if you could come over and spend the night.", she admitted, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere, Lara.", Dana said before hanging up.

-

It didn't take long until the somewhat annoying sound of the buzzer could be heard throughout the silence of Lara's apartment. Walking over to intercom, Lara couldn't help but smile in anticipation of seeing her girlfriend, wondering if she would be able to finally fall asleep with Dana sleeping next to her.

"Maybe she's some kind of teddy bear to me?", the redhead wondered, the thought causing her to chuckle. "The sexiest teddy bear ever.", she mumbled, picturing Dana in front of her inner eyes. Having reached the door, the chef pressed the talk button on the intercom. "Who is this?", she asked, although she knew perfectly well who was wanting to visit her.

"Just someone who wants to help you fall asleep.", came Dana's playful reply.

"Okay, I'll let you in.", Lara informed the other woman, pressing another button on the intercom.

No too long after having pressed the button to let Dana in, Lara heard the knocking at her door and smiled. Figuring that Dana must have run up the stairs, the sous chef smiled and opened the door, coming face to face with the tennis player who grinned at her. At the sight of her girlfriend, Lara's smile broadened. The other woman wore simple shorts and a white t-shirt, her hair was tousled, indicating that she had been sleeping already.

"Hi.", the athlete greeted the taller woman. "So, I heard there's a soup chef in here who just can't seem to fall asleep without me.", she added, her voice playful yet again.

Lara averted her eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed about having woken the other woman up, and scratched her forehead. "Yeah.", she began, still not looking at the brunette. "God, I feel so stupid. I really shouldn't have made you come here, Dana. I'm being so selfish.", she apologized, but Dana silenced her by placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Nonsense, Lara, you're not being selfish.", the tennis player said then. "I really don't mind being woken up by you, you know, and I especially don't mind spending the night at your place."

Letting out a soft sigh at Dana's words, the redhead moved aside to let the other woman in.

"So, where is the sleepless soup chef who needs me?", Dana asked, taking Lara's hands into her own.

Lara grinned at the use of soup chef. Dana really was the only one calling her that, but then again Dana had been the one creating that particular term. "She's right in front of you.", she finally said, pulling the athlete into a hug.

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at WolfgalX: Something that's cute and funny? Hmm, let me think...actually I do like cunny, even though it sounds a little dirty, or maybe because it sounds dirty. I mean, Dana and Lara are cute, funny and dirty...so I think cunny would work for them. About the chef thing, well, I gotta admit I'm a lousy chef, maybe I should take some lessons...too bad Lara is not real...

at kickboxing.gurl: I'm glad to hear that you're in love with this fic and you know what...so am I, kinda...

at auggy1984: Well, the chapter wasn't based on any real life person :), I promise...lol...or maybe it was...well, based on me. I don't even want to know what would happen if I tried to cook tomato sauce...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter fifteen: Perfectly fine**

Lara pulled into the Country Club's parking lot, looking for a free space to park her car. She wasn't exactly running late after having taken a slight detour to the dry cleaners, but she didn't want to lose anymore time, knowing her own tendency to dawdle when alone, especially now that she had Dana to think about. The sous chef smiled when she spotted the free space right next to her girlfriend's car. Pulling up next to it and turning off the ignition, she leaned back in her seat, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for a hard day at work.

-

The locker room was somewhat busy, Lara could tell by the sound of different voices she heard when approaching. Usually she prefered getting changed alone, enjoying the quietness before heading off to the loud and hectic kitchen, but it couldn't be helped. The redhead let out a somewhat annoyed sigh and pushed the door open. Stepping inside, she nearly bumped into a girl, probably at the age of twelve, who was running around the locker room with a bunch of other kids.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss.", the girl apologized, blushing and looking to the ground.

Lara couldn't help but think of Dana, who would probably have acted the same way the girl did and smiled. "It's okay.", she said, making her way through the locker room. Turning round the row where her locker was located, her eyes fell upon another person. The woman had her back turned towards Lara and stood there in nothing but a sportsbra and a white tennis skirt, her brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail. The redhead was about to turn her eyes away, not wanting to stare at a unknown woman, when she noticed the familiar mole on the small of the woman's back. A grin spread across the chef's lips and she walked up behind the woman, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her head on her shoulder. The other woman shrieked, jumping at the contact.

"Don't worry, it's just me.", Lara whispered, barely able to contain her laughter. She felt the smaller woman relax in her arms and placed a small kiss on her nape.

"Geez, Lara, you just scared the shit out of me.", the brunette complained. "Don't ever do that again."

The chef chuckled lowly, placing another kiss on the other woman's nape. "You looked so hot standing there, I just couldn't resist, Dana.", she said. "How are you?"

Dana chuckled. "Well, beside still being a little freaked out about that pseudo-attack?", she asked, teasing.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?", Lara playfully begged, loosening the embrace a little.

"Of course I forgive you, Lara.", Dana told her then, turning around in her girlfriend's arms. "How could I not forgive my one and only soup chef?"

The chef simply smiled, not saying anything in response. She closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. The moment their lips met, Lara felt a wave of desire overwhelm her, her whole body aching for the other woman's touch. She backed the tennis player up against the lockers and ran one hand down her back, over her ass and under her skirt, while deepening the kiss. Dana let out a muffled moan.

"Lara, don't...", the athlete breathed out, blushing furiously when the heated kiss broke. "What about the kids?"

The sous chef giggled, pulling her hand from under Dana's skirt. "Don't worry, Dana, I won't make them witness us having sex.", she whispered, stepping back so that her girlfriend could move again. "Although I have to admit that I'm quite turned on, you know, thinking about having sex with you in here. What do you think?"

Dana blushed even more, smiling a shy smile. "I, uh, well, yeah, it is kinda, uh, kinda hot...", she mumbled, grabbing a white top and pulling it over her head. "I, uh, I have to go."

"Okay, I'll see you later.", Lara said with a smile, pulling the smaller woman towards herself for one last kiss before she could grab her bag and head for the courts.

--

Lara wiped the sweat from her forehead with one swift move, her gaze focused on the work at hand. The redhead was busy sharpening knifes and since the electric sharpener wasn't working, she had to do it the old-fashioned way, using her hands. Trying hard to keep her concentration on her work to avoid any injuries, Lara had to fight her vivid imagination, which seemed more than willing to slip back to the kiss shared with Dana not too long ago.

"Hey, Lara...", the chef heard someone call out to her and looked up, putting the knife aside, just in case. Simon stood at the counter, on the very same spot Shane had been standing when trying to find out if the sous chef was gay.

"What's the matter, Simon?", Lara asked, noticing the goofy smile on the waiter's face. "Another customer who wants to talk to me?"

Simon shook his head. "No, but check out who just walked in here.", he said, pointing to the dining area of the country club. "Isn't that your precious Miss Fairbanks?"

Lara's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her girlfriend's name and a smile sprung to her face. Simon crooked a brow, leaning on the counter. Noticing this, the chef tried to hide her smile, putting up a mask of indifference. "What is it, Simon?", she asked.

The black haired man chuckled. "Come on, Lara, you can't fool me.", he said, watching his friend intendly. "You're totally gay, she's a gorgeous woman, you've been sending her free food, you've waited on her, you smile like a fool everytime she comes in here, I mean, come on..."

The redhead sighed, shaking her head at her friend's curiousity, comparing him to Alice, who'd probably done the same thing to Dana. She wasn't in the mood to be teased about her relationship and especially her love life-something she knew Simon would do-so she decided not to tell anything. "Don't you have a job to do?", she asked with an innocent smile.

Simon pulled a face. "Don't think you'll get away with it, Lara.", he mumbled before returning to the customers.

Lara smiled at her victory and let her gaze wander around the room. Her eyes immediately found Dana, who was busy talking to a tall, dark haired man with yellow sunglasses. At the sight of the other woman, who looked like she came right from the courts, the sous chef felt her heartbeat quickening and resisted the sudden urge to walk over to her and kiss her.

"What are you looking at?" The sound of Simon's voice pulled the chef out of her trance.

"Nothing.", she whispered, her voice barely audible, turning her eyes away from the tennis player, feeling the blush creeping up her face. Lara silently cursed herself for this somewhat childish reaction, knowing Simon knew what she had been staring at.

"Nothing, huh?", the waiter kept on teasing.

"Get lost, Simon.", Lara growled. She had never enjoyed being asked about things she didn't want to talk about and she had absolutely no intention to start enjoying it now.

The black haired man chuckled. "Oh, no, I don't think I will.", he said with a smile.

"Yeah, whatever." Lara shrugged, trying to ignore her friend's radiant smile and his curious brown eyes. "Just don't get in my way, okay?"

"Of course not, Lara, I don't wanna end up like those vegetables on skewers you keep sending to Miss Fairbanks.", Simon joked, earning himself a glare from the sous chef. "Oh, come on, Lara, loosen up."

Suddenly another voice spoke up, causing Simon to turn around and Lara to look up.

"Hi, I'd like to talk to the sous chef.", Dana said, smiling a polite smile at Simon.

The waiter nodded. "Of course, Miss Fairbanks, she's all yours.", he said, retreating from the counter. On his way back to the tables he turned to look at the two women again, winking at the chef, mouthing a "You go, girl." at her.

"Who is he?", Dana asked with a chuckle.

"Simon, my best friend.", Lara simply said, shaking her head at the waiter. "You could say he is the male version of Alice."

The tennis player turned around to look at her girlfriend's black haired friend. "He's attractive.", she said at which Lara raised her brows. "Maybe we could set them up on a blind date."

Lara laughed. "Yeah, I've been having the same idea.", she said.

"Really?", Dana asked rather surprised, turning back around.

"Really.", the redhead answered. "But I don't think you wanted to talk about Alice and Simon."

"No, not really.", the athlete began. "Well, I wanted to ask you out to another dinner."

--

Later that night Lara found herself standing in front of Dana's house, waiting for her girlfriend to get ready for dinner. She smiled at her reflection in the front door and straightened her blouse one last time, wondering why she was being so nervous. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and turned around, looking around the neighbourhood. Suddenly the door opened, causing the redhead to spin around, coming face to face with Dana.

"Wow, you look beautiful.", Lara commented, taking in the sight of her girlfriend in a blue sundress.

Dana blushed. "Well, thank you.", she said. "You don't look bad yourself."

Lara kept watching the other woman, wondering whether she'd notice the resemblance to their very first date, clothes-wise. When the corners of Dana's mouth curled up into an amused smile, the chef knew she had noticed.

"I'm kinda overdressed, aren't I?", the athlete stated with a giggle.

Lara nodded. "Yes, but, you know, we've all felt like that before and I can assure you, Dana, it will go away soon enough."

The tennis player smiled. "You know, this is actually the dress I had wanted to wear on our first date."

"But you're friends thought I'd think you were a geek and wouldn't want to date you...", the redhead finished, remembering that evening. "Though, I turned out to be quite a geek myself."

Dana laughed at that, linking her arm with her girlfriend as they started to walk towards Lara's car. "So, Lara, where are we going to have our date at?", she asked, causing the sous chef to grin.

"Well, I don't know.", Lara answered.

"You don't know? What does that mean?", the athlete asked, apparently confused. "But you said..."

Lara smiled, placing a kiss on the smaller woman's cheek to silence her protests. "Well, I thought we could just drive around and pick a restaurant on the way.", she suggested.

--

Lara stood in the doorway of Dana's bedroom, watching her girlfriend, who lay in bed, holding her stomach. Dana had her eyes closed and looked rather sick, occasionally whining in pain. Not knowing what to do to make the other woman feel better, Lara walked up to the bed, lay down next to Dana and moved her hand under her shirt. The tennis player winced at the touch.

"Your hand is cold, Lara.", Dana said, her voice weak.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to stop?", Lara asked, not wanting to make the other woman feel even more uncomfortable, about to pull her hand away.

Dana shook her head, holding Lara's hand in it's place. "No, it feels nice."

Giving a soft smile, the chef brushed her lips against the smaller woman's forehead, softly massaging her stomach. "You'll feel better in the morning, Dana.", she said, trying to cheer the other woman up.

"I just hope it's not food poisoning.", the tennis player said, rolling onto her side, facing away from Lara. " Can you stay here tonight and just hold me, Lara?", she asked.

Lara smiled. "Sure, Dana.", she said, spooning her girlfriend.

The evening hadn't exactly gone as planned. Everything had been fine, until they had left the restaurant to walk back to Lara's car when Dana had suddenly started to feel really sick.

"Do you feel like you have to vomit?", Lara asked, placing a soft kiss on her girlfriend's nape.

The athlete shook her head. "No, and I'm glad I didn't have to yet.", she said. "Do you think there was something wrong with that fish?", she asked after a short silence.

"I don't know.", the sous chef answered. "Maybe it contained something you're somewhat allergic to."

Dana shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."

-

When Lara awoke the next morning she found the space next to her empty. Slowly she sat up, rubbing her eyes, yawning. Hoping Dana was feeling better, she got out of bed, stretching her tall body.

"Now, Mr. Piddles, look who's finally getting out of bed.", Dana's teasing voice came from behind, causing the redhead to turn around.

Dana stood in the doorway, holding Mr. Piddles in her arms, and smiled brightly, obviously feeling better. Lara returned the smile, walked up to her girlfriend and kissed her softly on the lips.

"And what about me?", Dana said in a childish whiny voice, holding Mr. Piddles up. "Don't I get my good morning cuddle from my favourite Lara-mommy?"

Lara laughed at this. "Of course you get your good morning cuddle, Mr. Piddles.", she said, taking the cat from the brunette's arms, starting to stroke his soft fur at which he purred contentedly.

"He really likes you, huh?", the tennis player wondered, smiling at the display.

"How could he not like me? I'm irresistible.", Lara joked. "Are you feeling better, Dana?"

Dana nodded. "I'm perfectly fine, Lara.", she then said, leaning in for another kiss.

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at WolfgalX: Yes, you have been late to review and yes, I admit I haven't been updating in a long time (maybe I've been waiting for your review :)...lol ), but here it is...or was, the new chapter, I mean. Well, about chapter fourteen: Yes, Lara was needy and yes, they seem to become the moving van cliché Harrison joked about in The Pilot :D... I noticed that, too when I had finished the chapter, and it did bother me a little, but then again I liked the chapter and I didn't want to erase it, so...

at ihatemessbutiloveyou: Thank you and I assure you there'll be more. Hope you'll stay tuned.

at kickboxing.gurl: Yeah, they seemed pretty needy and clingy (and it did bother me to a certain degree), but since you still liked it, it can't have been that bad :)

at auggy1984: Thanks for reviewing, auggy, I appreciate it.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter sixteen: Dinner invitation**

Lara sighed, letting her apartment door fall into its lock. Looking forward to a quiet evening and a free sunday, she made her way to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable. Undoing her ponytail and getting out of her street clothes, Lara put on a pair of black shorts and was just about to get into a t-shirt, when there was a knock at her front door. The redhead sighed, wondering who it could be, and dropped the t-shirt onto the bed, walking to her door in nothing but her shorts and her bra. Taking a look through the peephole, she noticed it was Dana and decided to open the door as she was, just to see Dana's reaction.

"Hi, Dana.", Lara greeted the smaller woman, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi, Lar-" The words died on Dana's lips, her eyes grew wide and a blush crawled over her features.

Lara chuckled amused. "It's nothing you haven't seen before.", she said when the tennis player averted her eyes to the floor.

"I know.", Dana mumbled. "I just...well, I hadn't expected you to open the door like that."

The redhead crossed her arms in front of her chest, raising her brows. "Well, it's not my fault that you come here just a few minutes after I came home from work.", she joked. "What are you doing here anyway?"

At that the tennis player smiled. "Can I come in first?", she wondered.

Lara nodded, stepping aside to let the other woman into her apartment. Closing the door, she gestured Dana to follow her into the living room. "So, what are you doing here?", the chef asked again when they sat down onto the couch.

Dana smiled again. "Well, Tina invited all of us over to dinner at their place and since she didn't have your number, she asked me to ask you if you wanted to join us.", the athlete explained. "And, most importantly, I wanted to see you.", she added, her smile brightening.

The sous chef didn't answer right away, watching the impatience grow evident on Dana's face and in her body language. The brunette kept nervously sliding around on the couch, watching the taller woman with a questioning look. "You can tell Tina that I'd love to have dinner with you guys.", Lara finally broke the silence that had evolved, earning herself a sigh of relief from her girlfriend.

"I think you should tell her that yourself.", Dana said with a slight giggle in her voice. "You know, I came here to pick you up so that we could go there."

"Right now?", the chef wondered, looking down at her outfit. "Or do I have time to change into something...well, less revealing?"

The tennis player grinned at that. "Umm, I like your outfit.", she admitted. "Though I don't know about the others..."

Lara tilted her head to the side, a playful smile on her lips. "You like it, huh?"

Dana nodded, her grin becoming somewhat lascivious. "Hmm, it makes you look sexy.", she said, her voice a little lower than usual.

The simple statement coupled with the lowness of Dana's voice made Lara's heart beat faster. The chef felt a sudden wave of desire rush through her body and found her attention suddenly drawn to the athlete's delicious lips. "At what time did Tina say should we be there?", she asked without looking up, leaning closer to her counterpart, mentally undressing her.

"Umm, in about an hour.", Dana answered, seemingly clueless of what her girlfriend was wanting to do.

"Good." Lara couldn't help but smile before leaning in to capture Dana's lips in a kiss, but the other woman pulled back, looking rather alarmed.

"Lara, I don't think we should...", she began, but the sous chef silenced her by placing her index finger on her lips.

"Why not?", the redhead wondered, amused about Dana's worry, feeling the hotness of the brunette's lips against her finger. "You said we have an hour and I'm gonna make this quick.", she stated with a sexy smile.

Dana's eyebrows shot up. "You mean a quickie?"

The smile on the chef's lips broadened as she leaned forward. "Yes, a quickie.", she breathed into the smaller woman's ear, noticing the goose bumps on the athlete's tanned arms.

The tennis player swallowed audibly. "Okay.", she whispered hoarsly, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck.

Lara placed a quick peck on the athlete's lips. "Lie back, Dana.", she ordered then.

Dana did as she was asked, lying back on the couch, wrapping her legs around the taller woman's waist. The redhead grinned down at her while slowly moving her hands up Dana's thighs to the zipper of her jeans. She quickly unbuttoned and unzipped the jeans and moved on top of her girlfriend, eliciting a gasp of anticipation. Slowly moving her hand down her lover's body while nuzzling her neck, she felt the brunette holding her breath, which was only to be released in a loud groan as Lara pushed her hand into Dana's jeans and panties, thrusting two fingers into her wet pussy.

--

"Do we look like we just had sex?", Dana asked, sounding somewhat worried, as they walked up to Bette and Tina's house. "Because if we do, Alice will notice and she'll tease us about it the whole night."

Lara, not really paying attention to her girlfriend's rambling, looked around the neighbourhood. "White picket fences.", she thought with a smile. "So very traditional." A nudge on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned to look at her girlfriend. "What was that for?", she asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"You're not even listening to me.", Dana complained, pouting.

"Of course I'm listening to you, Dana.", Lara tried to reassure her, not having a clue what the other woman had been talking about before.

The tennis player raised her brows, eyeing the chef suspiciously. "Oh, really? What was I talking about?"

"Umm...", Lara began.

"See, you weren't listening.", the brunette said again, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

The sous chef sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay, I admit. I wasn't listening.", she said. "I'm sorry and I promise, it won't happen again.", she continued in a cute voice. "Will you please tell me what you were talking about?"

Dana giggled and wrapped on arm around the taller woman's waist, snuggling closer to her. Lara smiled at her victory and placed a small kiss on the athlete's head.

"Nothing really important.", Dana said with a shrug. "I was just worrying about some things that I really don't have to worry about and I realized that you would have told me just that."

Lara smiled, satisfied with Dana's answer and decided to let it go, since it really didn't seem to be important. She placed another kiss on her girlfriend's head and followed her to the front door. Dana knocked, signalizing their arrival. They didn't have to wait long until Bette opened the door.

"Hi, Dana.", the dark haired woman greeted with a smile. "Oh, and hi to you, too, Lara. It's always nice to see you.", she added, giving Lara a welcoming smile before stepping aside to let the couple in.

"Thank you for inviting me, too. I just hope I'm not intruding or something.", Lara said, but Bette waved her off.

"Don't worry, you aren't, Lara.", she said. "Make yourselves at home, you two. Dinner should be ready soon." With that she walked off, leaving the two women in the hallway.

As soon as Bette was out of sight, Dana turned towards the chef, a silly grin on her lips.

"What is it?" Lara was somewhat confused by this.

The brunette's grin broadened. "Lara, I already told you they love you, didn't I? So why are you being all cautious around them instead of being the geeky and lovely Lara I know?"

The redhead chuckled at this. "You're just the right person to tell me this, Dana, aren't you? You weren't exactly being all confident when we first talked.", she said, remembering an all nervous and shy Dana telling her about a possible contract with Subaru.

Dana pulled a face. "Yeah, well, you were undressing." She wrapped her arms around the sous chef's neck, pulling her head down. "And you know how I can't concentrate on talking when you're naked.", she whispered before placing a brief kiss on her lips.

"Hey, are you gonna come in here, or what?" Shane's voice suddenly got their attention and they turned to see the hairdresser standing in the hallway. "It's getting quite boring all by myself, you know, with Bette and Tina preparing dinner and Alice being at home, finishing an article..."

-

A little while later the three women were sitting around the dining table, waiting for Bette and Tina to serve dinner.

"What's that?", Dana asked, pointing to the meal on her plate, when Bette placed a plate in front of her.

Lara watched the alarmed expression in her girlfriend's eyes as the brunette was eyeing her meal as if it would jump at her once unattended. The chef in her could tell it was fish and the memory of Dana's last encounter with fish was still very vivid in her mind.

"It's baked tuna steak with vegetables.", Tina explained with a smile.

The athlete kept watching the tuna steak for a little while before turning to Lara. "I can't eat this, Lara.", she said, sounding worried. "Will you eat my fish, too?"

The redhead smiled. "Sure, just give it to me.", she answered. "Though we'll have to think of a way to burn those additional calories later."

Dana blushed slightly at those words, moving her tuna steak onto her girlfriend's plate.

"Dana, are you trying to stuff your woman here?", Shane joked.

"No, I...God, no, Shane.", the tennis player protested. "I just don't eat fish, you know."

Tina raised her brows at this. "Since when don't you eat fish?"

"Well, you know, there's been an incident...", Dana began, but trailed off, seemingly not wanting to tell her friends about her nausea. "Well, if you could give me some more of these vegetables, Tina..."

Lara noticed how the three other woman were suddenly all turning their glances from Dana to her as if asking if she had something to do with the incident their friend had been refering to.

"I have nothing to do with this.", she said, holding her hands up in defence.

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at Charmed Lassie: Well, thank you and I hope you'll stay tuned. :)

at Aqua Bubbles: You are right, they aren't enough Dana/Lara stories out there, which is part of why I decided to write one myself (other than the fact that I can't stop thinking about them :D). Anyway, don't worry, Dana really does feel better again, but then again, who wouldn't after spending the night in Lara's arms. Hope you'll stay tuned.

at WolfgalX: Yeah, Simon and Alice would be dangerous, especially for their best friends, wouldn't they? Lara and Dana would definitely regret setting them up, which is why I think I'll have them do just that. No, they aren't doomed to go on dates with one of them overdressed. That would be somewhat weird after a while, though I could have them call each otherbefore to check what the other is wearing. Remember, uh, chapter six, I guess, where they were at The Planet...I think, none of them was overdressed there.

at ihatemessbutiloveyou: No, it isn't bad, really. It's actually quite nice to see people liking this story and reading their rewiews about it.

at kickboxing.gurl: Yeah, I have to admit I like chapter fifteen best...no second best, right after chapter ten :) And about setting Simon and Alice up on a blind date...I might actually do that, though it mind turn out not so funny, for Dana and Lara :D


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter seventeen: DVD night**

Two weeks, including the Thanksgiving weekend Lara had spent with her family, had passed since Dana's nausea after their dinner at the sea food restaurant and since that day the tennis player seemed to consistently avoid any kind of sea food or fish in general, even Mr. Piddles had to bear the consequences: no more cat food with fish flavor. Lara had every intention to cure this newly developped aversion to fish. She had invited Dana over for dinner, planning on cooking salmon filet.

Stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around her waist, Lara grabbed a brush and walked into her living room where she sat down on the couch. Brushing her red hair, she took a glance at the watch. It was around five o'clock in the afternoon, so she still had three hours to go until Dana would be here.

-

Dressed in her chef's uniform, stripy apron and her chef's hat as a surprise for Dana, Lara nervously paced around her living room, waiting for Dana to arrive. The table was set-she had even lit some candles, the salmon filets waiting in the kitchen, ready to be served. Suddenly the doorbell rang, shaking Lara out of her pacing. Unable to hold back a goofy smile, the redhead walked over to the intercom, opening the front door via button. She didn't have to wait long for her visitor to knock at her door. Flinging the door open, ready to pull Dana into a kiss, Lara was more than surprised to see Simon stand there, holding a plastic bag in his hand.

"Simon?" the chef asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"Well, hi to you, too, Lara," the waiter said, sounding just a little offended by the lack of joy in his friend's voice.

"What are you doing here?" Lara wondered, stepping aside to let the black haired man in.

Simon walked past the confused woman, obviously noticing the romantic setting in the living room. "Oh, you're expecting someone?" he asked, turning to Lara.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, well...you know, umm, yeah..." she stammered, not really knowing what to say, inwardly cursing herself for it.

"Oh, so you forgot about our DVD night, huh?" Simon asked, holding out the bag he was carrying.

"Oh, fuck, that was tonight?" Lara asked, slapping her forehead. She could remember agreeing on having this DVD night at her place, but that had been a couple of weeks ago, even before she had gotten together with Dana.

Simon kept looking at her. "Yeah, Lara, that was tonight," he said. "I can't believe you forgot." Suddenly he began to smirk. "Oh, now I know what's going on here," he said, walking into the living room, leaving Lara to herself.

Just as the sous chef was about to follow him into the living room to get him to leave, the doorbell rang again. "Oh, just great," she cursed, not in the mood to deal with Simon and Dana at the same time, but then again, she didn't want to make Dana wait outside, so she pressed the button on the intercom again, letting her girlfriend into the building.

"Hi, sexy soup chef of mine," Dana greeted the taller woman, throwing herself into her arms, seemingly not noticing the troubled look on her face when Lara had opened her apartment door for the second time that evening. "God, I missed you today," the tennis player continued. "Training was getting me all hot and bothered and I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Lara smiled weakly. "Yeah, I missed you, too," she said, pulling Dana into the kitchen.

Dana chuckled. "You're really horny, huh?" she asked, running a hand down the sous chef's back. "You look so sexy in this chef's uniform, Lara."

The chef couldn't help but blush, trying to fight the desire that was slowly beginning to flicker in her stomach.

"How about we skip dinner and have dessert first," the brunette suggested, starting to trail her lips down the other woman's neck while pushing her against the counter.

"Dana, I need to...there's something I have to...hmm, I, I have to..." the sous chef tried to tell her girlfriend about Simon's presence, but couldn't form any coherent sentences due to the fervent sucking and licking on her neck. She tried to push the other woman away, but to no avail, Dana kept torturing her with her lips. "Dana, I really need to tell...hmm...I need to..."

"Later, Lara," the athlete said, shutting the sous chef up by placing a hard kiss right on her lips.

As much as the redhead wanted to stop Dana from doing what she was doing, since Simon was in the next room, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep herself quiet once the brunette would go down on her-or whatever the other woman had in mind, Lara just couldn't find the will to do so. Her body was already too far into it, her mind clouded with pure pleasure, her breathing ragged.

"I've been thinking about this all day," the tennis player whispered, seemingly pleased that no more complaints were coming from Lara, starting to unbutton the chef's jacket.

The tennis player moved the chef's jacket down the taller woman's shoulders, letting it hang loosely on her arms, seemingy disappointed about the white tank top the chef wore underneath. Lara couldn't help but close her eyes at the pleasure running through her system, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from moaning out loud when Dana leaned in to place open mouthed kisses all over her collar bone and shoulders. The athlete unzipped the redhead's pants, slipped her right hand in and pressed Lara's clit through the panties, causing the taller woman to draw in a sharp breath. Lara surrendered to desire, pushing herself up against the other woman, wrapping her arms around her.

"Hey, Lara, how long are you...", Simon suddenly spoke up, ripping the sous chef out of her trance.

Lara's eyes flew open and she stared at her friend who stood in the kitchen's doorway, his brown eyes wide. She blushed a deep crimson, throwing a quick glance at her girlfriend who had also blushed a deep crimson, frozen on the spot.

"Umm, I'll...uh, I'll go back in the living room," the waiter uttered, retreating from the kitchen.

When her friend was out of sight, the chef released a deep breath, smiling a nervous smile. Dana pulled her hand out of her girlfriend's pants and rested her head on the other woman's chest, obviously embarrassed. Lara sighed and rested her head on her girlfriend's, still shaking with desire.

"Why didn't you tell me that he was here, Lara?" the tennis player whispered, her voice a little accusatory. "I would have never...you know, if I'd known there was someone here."

Once again Lara sighed. "Well, Dana, I was trying to tell you about him, but you just wouldn't let me finish." She grinned, having totally enjoyed her girlfriend's sudden boltness. "You were too busy getting me naked."

At these words Dana buried her face in Lara's chest, mumbling something that sounded like "I'm so sorry."

The redhead giggled-partly because of her own embarrassment and partly because of Dana's cute behaviour. She placed a soft kiss on the smaller woman's brown tresses and pulled herself out of the embrace.

"You're not mad at me?" Dana asked, sounding somewhat unsure.

Lara shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at you," she said while buttoning up her chef's jacket. "In fact, it's somewhat my fault, too, you know." Closing the fly of her white pants, the sous chef smiled a soft smile at the other woman. "If I had resisted your charm, we would have never gotten into this situation."

The tennis player sighed lowly. "What are we gonna do now?"

Lara shrugged. "Well, we were going to have dinner..." she began. "...and apparently I was also going to have a DVD night with Simon." She sighed.

Now it was Dana's turn to giggle. "How were you planning on handling this? Splitting into two Laras?" she asked, causing the taller woman to blush in embarrassement.

Once again the chef shrugged. "I don't know. I just totally forgot about this DVD night," she admitted, scratching her forehead.

Suddenly Simon reappeared in the kitchen's doorway, his brown eyes avoiding the two women. "Umm, I think I better go, Lara. We can have this DVD night some other time," he suggested.

Lara nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Simon," she said, not knowing what else to tell him. The redhead watched her friend as he started to turn around in the doorway when Dana suddenly addressed him.

"Hey, umm, Simon..." she began, causing the waiter to stop in his tracks and turn back around, watching the athlete questioningly. "Why don't you stay and eat with us? I'm sure Lara wouldn't mind and, umm, we, well, we could also have this DVD night the two of you have been planning," she suggested, looking from Simon to her girlfriend.

The sous chef was surprised at this. She hadn't expected Dana to invite Simon to their date, but as long as she didn't invite him into the bedroom-the pure thought of that made Lara extremely uncomfortable-she was fine with it. After all, Simon was her best friend and she had cooked enough salmon filet for the three of them.

"I, uh, I don't know. What do you say, Lara?" Simon asked, looking at his redheaded friend.

All of a sudden Lara found herself being in the center of attention-something she tried to avoid most of the time. "Well, of course you can stay, Simon. I mean, there's enough fish for all of us and we had this planned anyway, so..."

Simon briefly smiled at the sous chef, walked over to Dana and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Simon Kimble, Lara's best friend and a waiter at the country club," he introduced himself.

Dana smiled, shaking the offered hand. "Dana Fairbanks, Lara's, uh, girlfriend and a tennis player, but I guess, you knew that already."

-

Later that night Lara stood in the bathroom, brushing her teeth when Dana came strolling in. The athlete smiled a little smile and leaned against the wall, watching her girlfriend.

"So, Dana, how do you feel?" Lara asked when she had finished brushing her teeth, putting her toothbrush aside.

Dana looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Lara chuckled at the other woman's facial expression, bracing herself on the sink with one arm. "Well, you ate fish tonight," she informed her girlfriend. "Any signs of nausea?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, I'm feeling perfectly fine, Lara," she said, walking over to the chef. "But then again you cooked it. So why would I feel sick after eating something my soup chef cooked for me?" she wondered in her cutest voice, causing Lara to laugh ever so slightly.

"I have no idea, Dana," the redhead answered, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman. "So, what about Simon? Do you like him?"

Dana smiled, pulling herself as close to the other woman as possible. "He's a nice guy, although he seems a little geeky."

Lara chuckled at that. "Aren't we just as geeky?"

A low "Hmm-Mmm" was the only answer she got from the tennis player before said tennis player pulled her head down for a kiss.

"I can seem to remember something we started before your dear friend interrupted, Lara," Dana whispered after the kiss had ended.

The redhead raised her brows. "Really?" she wondered, her voice flirtatious. "Care to tell me about it?"

Dana nodded, slowly slipping her hand into Lara's pajama pants. "It was something like this, wasn't it?" she teased, kissing Lara in a way that told the other woman that it was going to be a long night.

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at ihatemessbutiloveyou: There you go.

at kickboxing.gurl: Thank you. You know, I always wondered why we never got to see Lara with the group in season one...except for the poker night at Bette and Tina's, I would have loved to see that, but since that never happened, I'll have to make those scences up myself.

at WolfgalX: Like I said, I always wondered why those scenes where so rare, so I have to make them up myself. And, yeah, Alice would have noticed something, but, you know, I think it's better the way it was, don't you think?

at Aqua Bubbles: Thank you. You mean Dana getting a little more confident and Lara being somewhat cautious, don't you? Well, I think it's just typical behaviour since Lara's getting to know them and Dana, well, she's known them a long time, so...About Alice and Simon: I'm gonna write a story about that blind date, I think, I just don't know when it's gonna happen.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter eighteen: I'm falling in love with you**

Lara awoke due to a soft tingly feeling on her stomach which felt as if someone was tracing soft patterns with a single fingertip. Knowing that that someone beside her was Dana, she decided to keep her eyes shut, trying to make out just what pattern Dana was tracing on her skin. As she was trying to concentrate on the line the fingertip was drawing, the redhead found it quite difficult to make out a pattern, since the sensation Dana's finger was causing turned out to be quite distracting. She could hardly keep herself from sighing in utter contentment. Her girlfriend's forehead rested against her shoulder, her calm breath caressed her skin and once in a while the tennis player would place a gentle kiss on her upper arm.

"A heart...," she guessed after a while, her voice still thick with sleep. She could feel the other woman smile against her skin.

"You're awake?" Dana wondered, still tracing small hearts around Lara's belly button.

The sous chef nodded, opened her eyes and found her girlfriend's blue ones looking right at her. "It's a heart," she repeated with a smile.

The athlete smiled back at her, now bracing herself on her forearm.

"Does it have a deeper meaning?" Lara asked, putting a stray strand of her lover's hair behind her ear.

Dana's smile turned into a grin. "Maybe," she whispered.

"Maybe what?" The redhead raised a brow.

A slight blush crept over the brunette's cheeks. "Maybe it does have a deeper meaning," she said with a slight giggle attached to her voice.

"What does it mean then?" Lara prodded, watching the shy grin on the other woman's face.

Dana hesitated, seemingly searching for the right words. "I think, well, I'm falling in love with you, Lara," she admitted after a short silence, averting her eyes as if embarrassed.

The simple statement caused Lara's heart to skip a beat. She could feel pure happiness well up inside herself and felt a silly smile form on her lips. Hugging Dana close to herself and taking in her scent, she brushed her lips against the tennis player's ear before whispering, "I'm falling in love with you, too, Dana."

"Really?"

Lara inwardly shook her head at Dana's insecurity that used to show itself in the oddest moments. "Really," she said, confirming her statement with a kiss on the brunette's cheek.

The tennis player giggled. "Just one?"

"Oh, are we demanding for more kisses?" Lara asked, raising her brows.

Dana nodded, saying, "Oh, yeah!" before closing her eyes and pursing her lips.

The redhead laughed at the cute display before willingly complying her lover's demand for more kisses. She started at Dana's supple lips, then started trailing kisses along her jawline and down her neck while rolling Dana onto her back and moving on top of her. The athlete sighed, wrapped her arms around Lara's back and tilted her head backwards.

"It's an interesting taste," the sous chef observed, running her tongue along her girfriend's collar bone and up her neck, tasting her skin which was covered in a layer of dried sweat.

"What is?" the tennis player asked, softly panting.

Lara smiled and nibbled the athlete's neck a little longer, using her teeth to add a little extra pleasure. Dana let out a low moan. "Your skin, Dana," Lara said, feeling all warm and fuzzy. "It's somewhat salty."

There was no response coming from the brunette, but Lara hadn't really expected her to say something in return and so the redhead continued to nibble on her lover's neck, causing her to sigh in pleasure once in a while. Lara enjoyed the shared intimacy, loving the feeling of their naked bodies intertwined as well as the sensations Dana's hands were causing on her back. She placed one last tender kiss on the other woman's delicious lips and sat up, straddling her hips. She felt Dana's hands sliding down her sides until they rested on her hips. Their eyes locked and both women smiled at each other. Taking in the sight of the woman beneath her, her long dark tresses spread onto the pillow, her naked chest rising and falling as she was breathing calmly, Lara felt her throat go dry. She couldn't even begin to find the words to describe what she saw and felt at that very moment. Staring into the athlete's intense blue eyes, she found herself completely speechless, something she had never experienced with any of her former girlfriends.

"What is it?" the tennis player asked in a soft whisper.

The chef's smile brightened at the question. "You're just so beautiful, Dana," she answered at which Dana blushed slightly.

"So are you, Lara."

Lara smiled at the words and started to caress her lover's tanned stomach, eliciting a soft purr of contentment. As Dana closed her eyes again, the redhead started to mimic her earlier gesture, trailing a small heart around the athlete's belly button. The action caused Dana to giggle.

"Does the heart have a deeper meaning?" she asked jokingly, repeating Lara's earlier question, keeping her eyes closed. "Or are you just drawing it for the fun of it?"

Once again the sous chef couldn't help but smile. "It does have a deeper meaning," she stated, intertwining her finger's with the tennis player's.

Dana's eyes snapped open and she smiled a bright smile. "What does it mean?"

Lara chuckled lowly. "I'm falling in love..." she began before bringing their intertwined hands up to place a kiss on her lover's. "...with you."

Although she had heard those words from the taller woman before, Dana blushed and began to giggle. Another smile lightened up the chef's features as another comfortable silence engulfed the lovers. They continued to admire each other for a while before Lara leaned down slowly, bracing herself on her forearms on each side of Dana's head, her red hair tumbling down into Dana's face. Their faces were only a few inches apart; Lara could feel the other woman's calm breath on her skin. The tennis player smiled an amorous smile and began to play with the chef's hair.

"I like your hair," she whispered.

The redhead only nodded at that, playfully nudging her girlfriend's nose with her own, eliciting another happy giggle. Closing the final distance between them, the sous chef leaned down to kiss the other woman, closing her eyes. They kissed slowly, tenderly, deeply, knowing, as if by a silent agreement, that this wasn't about having sex, but about being simply close to each other. Dana moved her hands behind her lover's head, running them through her red hair. Lara sighed into the kiss, feeling as if her heart was about to explode with all the happiness and love she was feeling. Neither woman seemed to be willing to break the kiss, but it ended anyway, leaving them both panting and speechless.

"Enough with the falling," Lara said after a while, earning herself a confused stare.

"What-" Dana began, but the redhead silenced her with another brief kiss.

Leaning towards the athlete's ear, Lara whispered, "I'm not falling anymore, Dana, that happened some time ago." She paused, noticing that Dana's breathing had slowed down. "I'm in love with you, Dana Fairbanks, head over heels in love with you."

As soon as she had said those words, Lara found herself in Dana's embrace, feeling a soft kiss being placed on her left ear, followed by, "I'm in love with you, too, Lara Perkins."

They rolled over, lying side by side, facing each other, still comfortably wrapped in each other's arms.

"Let's stay in bed," Dana suggested with a contented sigh.

"Hmm, until we have to get up and go to work," Lara replied, earning herself a warning look from the brunette.

"Don't remind me, Lara, I wanna enjoy this," Dana said, snuggling closer and resting her forehead against Lara's chest.

The redhead placed a small kiss on the smaller woman's head and tightened the embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes.

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at kickboxing.gurl: I love that episode, too. It finally showed the hot side of Dana and Lara which I would have liked to see more often. And yeah, Dana can also be cool :D.

at WolfgalX: Did they really make out in that many places, hmm, okay, the parking lot, the locker room, The Planet, ..., okay, they really did :D, and yeah, I would have a hard time getting them out of my head if I'd walk in on them, so...you'll see what will happen.

at auggy1984: Hey, haven't heard from you in a while. It's nice to see you back and thank you. :)

at Aqua Bubbles: What a coincidence, huh:D Well, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter nineteen: The chart**

The smile on Lara's face didn't seem to be willing to ever go away, just as if the corners of her mouths had been fastened with a staple gun, and whenever the word "Dana" crossed her mind, the smile seemed to get wider and wider. She felt energetic, hyper even, she felt like running around and of course her behaviour didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, Lara, you're okay?" Simon's voice ripped her out of another daydream.

The redhead looked up from her working station and grinned at her best friend. "Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine, perfectly fine."

Simon crooked a brow and leaned onto the counter. "What's the reason behind your happiness?" he asked with a grin. "No, wait, let me guess...maybe a certain tennis player?"

Lara couldn't help but giggle like a fool, though she slapped herself inwardly for this childish reaction.

"What happened?"

The question caused the chef to giggle even harder, a slight blush covering her features as she remembered the sweet confessions that she and Dana had shared earlier that morning. "She's in love with me, Simon," she whispered with a grin.

The waiter didn't seem to be impressed. "Yeah, I could tell last night, Lara," he said, now blushing himself. "I mean, walking in on you two going at it in your kitchen pretty much told everything."

Lara's face turned a deep crimson at this and her smile faded. "Oh God, please tell me you didn't tell anyone about it."

"Don't worry, I didn't," Simon said at which Lara sighed in relief, she didn't like the idea of being teased about her love life by the entire kitchen staff. "You know, this way I'll have something to tease you about."

The redhead groaned and decided to ignore her friend to return to her work.

"So? What happened?" Obviously Simon didn't seem to have the same idea. "Did she ask you to marry her or what?"

Lara shook her head. "God, no, that would be way too early...," she answered, and in her thoughts she added, "...and so not a Dana-thing to do."

"Then what did she do, huh?"

The silly smile returned to the sous chef's face. "Well, she's in love with me."

The black haired man groaned, seemingly annoyed. "Yeah, you already told me that, but what did she do to get you to smile like a fool in love."

"She's told me that she's in love with me and I told her back," Lara answered, trying to keep the giggle out of her voice.

Simon smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "Well done, Lara," he said. "That's actually the first time in almost three years that I see you in a relationship. It kinda gives me hope that I'll find a nice girlfriend one day."

"Yeah, you will, Simon," Lara answered, not caring about the snide comment. "Good luck."

-

On her lunch break Lara decided to do something she hadn't done before, but had been wanting to do for some time. Grabbing her bottle of water and the banana she had brought for lunch, she got out of her chef's jacket and slipped into a pair of flip-flops sandals, since she wasn't allowed to wear her kitchen shoes outside the country club's kitchen, and made her way to the tennis courts. Dana seemed to be working on her returns, backhand and forehand, or at least that was what it looked like to Lara. The chef spotted Dana's bag on the stands and decided to sit down next to it. Taking a sip of her water, she followed her girlfriend's movements with her eyes, admiring her well-trained body. While waiting for her coach to serve, Dana suddenly turned her head into the direction of the stands and a smile sprung to her face. She waved at Lara and walked towards the net. Wondering what this was about, Lara watched as her girlfriend talked to her coach, turned back around and came walking towards the stands.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" the tennis player asked, sounding a little out of breath, setting her racket aside and taking a seat next to the taller woman.

Lara smiled. "I'm watching you train, or should I say, I was watching you train," she joked. "Why did you stop?"

Dana returned the smile, reached for a towel and began to wipe the sweat off of her arms and face. "I needed to take a break."

"That's all there is to it?" the redhead asked playfully, causing the other woman to giggle.

"Well, maybe I wanted to spend some time with you," Dana said with a smile. "Can I have some?" she asked, pointing to the bottle in Lara's hands.

Lara grinned. "Don't you have your own isotonic drinks?" she teased.

"Yeah, but I want water," the athlete answered, sporting puppy dog eyes.

The sous chef did a mock sigh and handed her bottle over. "But I warn you, drinking this, you will absorb millions of Lara-germs."

Dana put her off. "You can never have enough Lara-germs," she said, taking a sip. "And there's no way I didn't absorb another million of them when you kissed me this morning or when we made love last night." With that she rested her head on the other woman's shoulder, sighing in contentment.

The simple gesture caused Lara to feel all warm and fuzzy and she wrapped one arm around Dana's waist. They sat like that for a while, neither saying anything, enjoying each other's presence, until Lara's stomach growled lowly.

"Someone's hungry, huh?" Dana joked, not lifting her head from its resting place.

The redhead nodded, reaching for her banana. Peeling off its yellow skin, she took a bite and noticed her girlfriend staring at the fruit. "Want some?" she asked, offering her banana to the smaller woman.

The brunette hesitated. "I don't know, Lara. I don't wanna eat your lunch."

Lara shook her head at this, chuckling. "Just take a bite, Dana, before I reconsider this. I won't starve."

Giggling, Dana did what she was asked to and returned to rest her head on her lover's shoulder. Another silence engulfed them while Lara ate her banana.

"Any plans for tonight?" the sous chef asked after a while, taking another sip of water.

Lifting her head from Lara's shoulder again, the athlete smiled, saying, "Hmm, I can think of something."

Lara's curiosity was peaked. "Tell me about it."

The smile on Dana's lips brightened. "Well, we could go have dinner at some restaurant and after that we could go to Radar."

"Radar?" Lara wondered, never having heard of that place before. "What's that place like?"

The question caused the tennis player to chuckle. "No, it's not a place, Lara. It's, well, it's a special night at The Planet, you know, an all-woman's night," she explained, blushing ever so slightly. "What do you say?"

The chef smiled, loving the idea. "Well, I'd say, you pick out a restaurant to have dinner at and I pick you up at eight," she suggested.

"Eight o'clock it is," Dana said, taking one of the chef's hands into hers.

Lara nodded, watching her girlfriend play with her fingers when suddenly a thought popped up in her mind. "What's the attire gonna be?"

"What?" Dana was obviously puzzled.

"What are we going to wear?" Lara asked. "Casual or overdressed?"

The athlete's lips curled up in an amused smile. "Oh, I was thinking jeans and tank top."

The sous chef returned the smile. "Sounds perfect," she said, leaning in to place a loving kiss on her lover's waiting lips.

--

The Planet was pretty packed when they arrived. Following Dana around the place, Lara looked around. "There are even more people than the last time we came here at night," she noticed.

Dana nodded. "Yeah, Radar night is always a busy night." Suddenly the athlete stopped in her tracks. "Look, there's Alice and Shane," she said, pointing towards a table. "Do you want us to go over there?"

"I don't see a reason not to," Lara answered, earning herself a small smile.

The tennis player grabbed her girlfriend's hand into her's and led her to the table Shane and Alice were sitting at.

"Shane, look at that..." Alice spoke up, waving the couple over. "It's the lovebirds."

Shane turned around and smiled at them, pointing to two vacant seats.

"Out on a date, huh?" Alice asked as Dana and Lara sat down at their table.

"Yeah, Al," the athlete said, turning towards Lara. "Do you want something to drink?"

The chef smiled. "A beer would be fine."

Dana got up from her seat. "Okay, I'll go get us some beer," she said, walking away into the crowd.

Lara watched her walk away before turning back around towards the two other women present at the table, a little unsure of how to start a conversation with them.

"So, Lara, did you come right here or did you have dinner before?" Shane asked, causing Lara to wonder whether the black haired woman had noticed her slight unsureness.

"Well, we did have dinner before, though the chef in me doesn't really consider it as dinner, but rather as some kinda snack, quite unhealthy, but, you know..." the redhead answered, earning herself confused stares.

"Where did you two go?" Shane asked.

The question caused Lara to chuckle lowly. "A fast food restaurant."

Alice gasped. "Oh my God, you took Dana to a fast food restaurant?" she asked, sounding somewhat disbelieving.

Once again the sous chef could only chuckle. "Well, she suggested it, you know. She said something about wanting to try something new and how this would be the only time ever."

The two women giggled at that.

"Wow, Dana is becoming such a bad girl recently," Alice said with a smile directed at Lara, wrapping her arm around the redhead's shoulder and pulling her into a half hug.

"Alice, what do you think you're doing?" Dana's voice came from behind, sounding quite playful.

"Nothing," the journalist answered, slowly letting go of the chef and turning around to face her friend, a silly grin on her lips.

Lara couldn't help but smile. Over the past few weeks she had grown to like Dana's friends a lot and she was feeling that her feelings were reciprocated, especially by Alice and Shane, who she really loved spending time with.

"Here's your beer," Dana said with a smile as she sat back down again, placing a bottle in front of Lara.

"Thank you." Returning the smile, Lara reached for the bottle and took a sip.

"Hey, Lara, can I ask you a question?" Alice asked, watching the redhead with curious brown eyes.

Lara nodded, though she didn't know what the outcome was going to be. "Sure, Alice."

A smile crossed the blonde's lips. "You can call me Al, you know."

Lara smiled back. "Okay then...sure, Al."

"Okay, I've been wanting to ask you this for quite a while now and, well..." Alice paused, seemingly formulating the question in her mind. "Well, how come we've never seen you around here before? I mean, look at you, Lara, you're an attractive woman..." Lara blushed at that. "...you're a gay woman and, before you got together with our Dana here, you were an available woman and still, we never saw you at any club or bar or any other place..."

The redhead smiled at that. She would have asked the same question if she were Alice. "It comes with being a chef, you know," she explained. "My schedule is quite busy and it used to be even busier when I started working at the country club about three years ago, before I was promoted sous chef...and it also comes with me not really knowing about the lesbian hangouts around town, you know. I mean, when I moved here to start working at the country club, I was too busy to even bother thinking about dating and I really didn't know anyone, so, I don't know, I just never really had any gay friend around here who could show me some of these bars and clubs, well, I did have one or two dates, but that was nothing serious at all, so..." Lara shrugged, having summarized the story of her lonely LA life and not knowing what else to say about it.

"Poor baby," Dana said in a cute voice, resting her head on the chef's shoulder.

Shane nudged Alice's shoulder. "Well, that does explain why she wasn't on your chart," she said and the journalist nodded.

"Yeah, that sure does explain why she wasn't on it."

"What's the chart?" the sous chef wondered, not knowing what the two women were talking about. "And why should I be on it?"

The question caused Alice to grin while Dana and Shane sighed in unison.

"You shouldn't have asked that, Lara," Dana said in a warning tone, sighing once again.

Alice, seemingly not caring about her friends' reactions, moved her chair closer to Lara's, grabbed on of the beer coasters and reached into her purse to produce a pen. "Okay, Lara, I'll tell you what the chart is..." she said with a grin. "Well, the chart is about connections between people..." Alice wrote Lara's name onto the beer coaster and circled it.

"What's that?", the chef asked, pointing to her name, wondering what she had to do with that chart-thing.

Alice chuckled. "That's your name in a circle," she said in some kind of duh-tone.

Lara crooked a brow. "Yeah, I know, but what does my name have to do with the chart?"

"Well, I'd tell you if you stopped interrupting," Alice replied, sounding somewhat teasing.

The sous chef nodded and gestured her lips to be sealed, signalizing that she'd listen to whatever Alice was going to say.

"Okay, as I told you, the chart is all about connections, right? So, now, let's see how many people it takes to link you to me, okay?" With that the blonde wrote her own name onto the beer coaster and circled it as well. "Alright, obviously you slept with Dana..." Alice grinned at Lara and Dana and proceeded to write Dana's name onto the coaster, linking it to Lara's by drawing a line between the two names. "...Dana slept with Melanie..." Another name was written on the coaster and Lara was beginning to see what the chart was about. "...Melanie slept with Heather, Heather slept with Brooke, Brooke slept with Nina who slept with me." Alice linked her own name to Nina's and shoved the beer coaster chart to the sous chef. "So, as you can see, it takes only five people to link you to me."

Looking at the diagram on the coaster, Lara nodded her head. "Yeah, it sure does."

"And, you know, it's not just us, Lara. I mean, you could name any lesbian in town and I could link her to you in, like, six moves," the journalist said, looking at Lara as if waiting for her to say a name.

"I could, Al, if I knew any lesbian in town. I mean, you guys are the only gay women I have met since I moved to LA," Lara said with a shrug.

Suddenly Shane sat up in her chair, bracing herself on her forearms. "What about those dates you mentioned earlier? Didn't they tell you their names or weren't they gay or what?"

The chef grinned. "Oh, right, them. Let me think, hmm..." Trying to remember the names, Lara noticed the three other women staring at her quite intently. Alice and Shane appeared to be curious, while Dana seemed rather jealous. "Okay, umm, one of them was Alicia," Lara finally said, remembering her first LA date.

"Alicia?" Alice repeated the name as if wanting to make sure she had heard right.

"Yes, Alicia," Lara answered, somewhat confused by Alice's reaction. "Why? Is something wrong with her?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, no, I was just making sure I had heard right, don't worry," she said.

"But, Al, if Lara and Alicia dated, umm, why wasn't she on the chart when we checked?" Dana asked, sounding somewhat puzzled.

Alice nodded. "That's a good question, Dane," she said, turning to the chef. "Lara?"

Lara sighed, not really wanting to tell what had happened. "We didn't date, okay?" she began, running a hand through her red hair. "Simon set me up on a blind date with a friend's sister: Alicia. And, well, there wasn't even the tiniest spark flying between us..." The redhead shrugged, thinking back to that weird day. "...and before the date had really started, Alicia called her brother to pick her up, so..."

Dana raised her brows. "How could there not be any sparks? I mean, I was on fire the moment I first saw you," she said and placed a kiss on her girlfriend's lips.

Shane chuckled lowly and patted Dana's shoulder. "The sparks were meant to fly between you guys, that's why."

"Okay, okay, okay, enough with sparks that fly around, guys," Alice interjected, waving her arms about. "Can we please go back to the chart?"

The other women turned to look at the journalist, nodding their heads.

"Thank you," Alice said when she had her friends' attention. "Okay, Lara, if you can't name any other lesbian, name one of us." She gestured around the table.

Lara smiled. "Okay, what about Shane?"

The black haired woman sighed. "I knew it."

"I'm sorry, Shane, but Dana would have been way too obvious and Alice already linked herself to me," the redhead apologized.

Shane put her off. "No, it's okay, Lara."

All of a sudden Dana started to chuckle. "You know, she hates being reduced to being a stud.", she joked, earning herself a glare from the hairstylist.

"Rather be a stud than not getting laid at all, huh?" Shane returned with a smirk.

The tennis player's eyes widened in shock. "Shane!" she gasped.

Shane chuckled amused. "What, Dane? It's true."

"Well, not anymore," Dana informed, grabbing one of Lara's hands as if to prove her words. "I'm getting laid now."

At this blunt statement Alice, Shane and Lara burst into laughter. Talking about sex wasn't really a thing Dana did outside the bedroom-Lara knew that-and the way she just had was just too funny.

"Oh, you're all so funny, the three of you," the athlete growled, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking more than pissed, causing the other women to laugh even harder.

Having regained her composure, Lara placed her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, but the brunette shook it off, throwing a fuck-you look her way.

"Cool down, Dana," Shane tried to calm Dana. "Don't wanna start a fight with your woman, right?"

The tennis player sighed, gave her lover an apologetic look and placed a brief kiss on her cheek. "I'm sorry, Lara."

Giggling lowly, the redhead returned the smile. "It's okay, Dana."

Once again Alice waved her arms about, trying to get the attention back on herself. "So, now that we've all made up again, could we please focus on the chart?"

"Yeah, go on, Al," the three women said in unison, causing Alice to smile.

"Great!" the journalist said, writing Shane's name onto the coaster, circling it. "Okay, hmm, let's see..." She looked around, obviously deep in thought. "The best way to link Shane to Lara, hmm..." Mumbling to herself, Alice ran a hand through her blonde hair. Suddenly she snapped her fingers, causing Lara to jump ever so slightly.

"Geez, Al!" the redhead exclaimed.

The blonde chuckled. "Sorry, Lara," she said, patting Lara's shoulder before returning her attention to the beer coaster chart. "Okay, look, I could link Shane to you through Alicia, but the thing you and Alicia had-whatever it was-doesn't get you on the chart, so..." She pointed to Dana's name. "...we'll have to use the obvious," she stated with a giggle. "We all know you slept with Dana who slept with Melanie." Now Alice pointed to the lines she had drawn earlier. "Now, Melanie also had a thing with Nazila and Nazila has once spent a night with Shane."

Lara watched Alice link the names and grinned. "So, basically, the chart's about who slept with whom," she stated, looking at the blonde.

"Basically, yes,"Alice answered. "We could elaborate this further and I could link you to each and every LA lesbian, even though you've never met them, but this would take us the whole night and even longer, but, yeah, you're right. Basically the chart is about, well, about sex."

"It's kinda cool," the chef said, still looking at the tiny chart in front of her. "Though I wonder how you know all this. I mean, who slept with whom..."

"Well, she's obsessed with these things, Lara. She can't think about anything else," Dana informed, throwing a challenging look at Alice.

Shane chuckled. "Yeah, she even has a giant chart in her living room."

The tennis player nodded. "Yeah, and she also put the whole thing on the internet and, as she said, people are adding names to it, making it grow exponentially."

Alice ignored the remarks, seemingly unimpressed. "Yeah, yeah, make fun of me, you two. At least Lara likes it, don't you?"

The redhead nodded, really liking the idea behind the chart and impressed by the effort Alice must have put into it. "Yes, I do," she admitted, earning herself a happy, somewhat triumphant laugh from the journalist.

"You're cool, Lara," Alice told the chef, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug. "I like you," she whispered into Lara's ear, causing her to smile.

"I like you, too," Lara whispered back and returned the hug, feeling that she was just becoming a true part of the group.

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at kickboxing.gurl: Oh my God, you're flattering me...thank you. I promise, I'll keep going.

at auggy1984: Seems like you really liked the last chapter...as I did. Thank you.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter twenty: Female ejaculation**

Pulling up in front of Dana's house, Lara looked over to the woman in the passenger's seat and smiled. "Do you want me to come in or should I go home?"

Dana grinned at her. "You don't really believe I'd let you drive home now, do you?" she asked in a lecherous voice. "Come in with me."

Lara didn't have to be asked twice. She got out of the car, walked to the passenger door and held it open for Dana.

"You're a true gentleman, Lara," the brunette joked.

"Gentlewoman," Lara corrected, wrapping an arm around the smaller woman's waist. "You know how gentle I can be," she whispered into Dana's ear, causing her to shiver.

"Yes, I do," Dana answered, her voice slightly shaking.

They started to walk up to the house when the athlete stopped in her tracks, looking at the other woman as if expecting her to do something.

"What's the matter?" Lara asked, not knowing what the strange behaviour was about.

Dana giggled softly. "Don't you wanna lock your car?" she asked.

"Oh, shit, you're right," the chef muttered under her breath, letting go of Dana's waist to go lock her car. Shaking her head at her own forgetfulness, she locked her car and walked back up to her girlfriend who was watching her with a huge grin on her lips.

"I guess you're growing old, huh?" the tennis player teased.

Lara tilted her head to the side. "Oh, am I?" she wondered at which the smaller woman nodded. "Well, if that is the case, then maybe I'm not capable to perform any of those oh-so pleasurable things you seem to like so much," she teased right back. "You know, if I'm that old already..."

Dana appeared shocked for a second, but quickly recovered, grabbing one of Lara's hands and pulling her along to the front door. "Now, I didn't say that."

Lara laughed at that sudden attack of desire, letting herself be dragged along. As the athlete unlocked her front door, the two women were greeted by Mr. Piddles who seemed to be craving attention and some cuddles, but Dana hushed him aside.

"Not now, Mr. Piddles," she said, closing the door behind them. "Mommy's busy." With that she grabbed the redhead around the waist, pulling her into a heated kiss that made Lara's knees quiver.

With the athlete's hands all over her body, Lara couldn't help but moan into the kiss, wrapping her arms around the other woman to get as close as possible. Two pairs of intense blue eyes locked as the kiss ended, speaking volumes without an actual word being spoken.

-

Soon Lara found herself in Dana's bed, lying on her back, naked, with Dana kneeing between her legs. The tennis player's soft hands were running over her torso, causing her to moan and sigh in pleasure.

"I like how you get along with my friends," Dana stated, her voice soft, while caressing her lover's thighs with the back of her hands. "Especially Alice and Shane."

"Hmm, they're cool," the chef answered, not really in the mood to talk.

"Yeah, they are, but I still don't get why you didn't date a lot since you moved here..."

Lara growled frustrated, wondering why the other woman seemed to be wanting to talk all of a sudden when, not too long ago, she had been the one initiating the whole deal. "Dana!" she said in a warning voice, sitting up in bed. "If you keep on talking right now, I'm gonna get out of this bed, get dressed and drive home, because, you know, I'm really not in the mood to talk right now, thanks to you and your goddamn hotness." She tapped Dana's chest with her index finger, waiting for an reaction.

The brunette grinned, pushing the sous chef back on the bed. "Alright, let's not talk then," she said, leaning down to place kisses all over her girlfriend's breasts and stomach that soon went southwards, causing Lara to draw in a sharp breath when Dana's tongue came into contact with her most intimate region.

-

Lara was trying to catch her breath as Dana made her way back up her body, trailing soft kisses all over her sweaty skin. Her skin was still tingling, her stomach muscles still clenching and unclenching from the pleasure Dana had just provided and her lips desiring to kiss her lover. Keeping her eyes closed, she felt Dana's hair tumbling down into her face.

"You can open your eyes now, you know. I'm done, the torture is over." the athlete joked, chuckling lowly.

Lara did as she was asked and opened her eyes, finding her girlfriend staring back at her.

Dana smiled a goofy smile. "Hi."

Returning the smile, the chef placed her hands on the other woman's cheeks, pulling her head down for a passionate kiss. While their tongues were exploring, dueling, Lara turned Dana over and onto her back, straddling her hips.

"You know, Dana, we can talk now...if you still want to..." she said, sitting up and staring into the smaller woman's desire laden blue eyes.

Dana shook her head. "I don't wanna talk," she said, her voice hoarse.

The redhead grinned. "Oh, you don't?"

Once again Dana shook her head, more fiercely this time.

Lara grinned, deciding to tease the other woman a little longer before giving her what she truly wanted. "Too bad," she began, running one hand up and down Dana's stomach. "Because, you know, I would really love to talk about how I get along with your friends."

The brunette groaned, starting to squirm ever so slightly. "Please."

"What's wrong, Dana? Are you in pain?" The chef wondered, enjoying the teasing.

"No, I'm not." Dana answered, sounding terribly aroused. "Please, Lara, fuck me," she added, arching her back.

Lara felt her mouth water by the sight. She couldn't resist any longer. Leaning down to place a soft kiss on her lover's lips, she whispered, "If that's what you want."

-

The early morning sun was shining through the bedroom window onto the two lovers who laid in bed in post orgasmic bliss after making love into the morning. Lara wore a highly satisfied smile on her lips while she kept stroking her girlfriend's hair. Dana's head was resting on Lara's stomach, both women wrapped into the sheets.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," the redhead whispered soothingly, trying to make her feel better. "It happens, Dana."

She had to admit that she was quite proud of herself, having been able to make Dana experience such an intense orgasm. She had heard of female ejaculation before, she knew it existed, but she had never thought she'd be able to make any woman experience it and now that Dana had, Lara couldn't help but feel ecstatic about it. The brunette on the other hand didn't seem to share her thoughts.

"It's never happened to me," Dana whined.

The sous chef smiled. Dana's embarrassment and naivety were just so adorable. "It's a perfectly natural thing," she explained, remembering the terrified look on the athlete's face after she had female ejaculated. It was blatantly obvious that Dana didn't have a clue about what had happened to her when Lara had gone down on her. "It doesn't change the way I feel about you...or how much pleasure you gave me," the redhead continued, trying to reassure her lover that she didn't need to feel ashamed about it.

Suddenly Dana groaned, pulled away from the chef and hid herself under the sheets. Lara watched her, not knowing what to do to make her feel less embarrassed, beginning to feel tired, since they hadn't really slept the night before, having left Radar at around four. Dana moved around, struggling with the sheets and grabbed a pillow to place it on her girlfriend's stomach. Seeing this as a sign to let the matter rest for the moment, Lara decided to try and sleep for a few hours before she had to get up and go to work.

-

The annoying ring of the alarm roused her from her sleep. Giving a groan she reached onto the night stand to silence the annoying noise, but there was no alarm clock to be found. Lara's eyes flew open and she looked around, not knowing where she was at first. Then it dawned to her, she had spend the night at Dana's place.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she cursed, having thrown a look at the alarm clock which told her she had overslept.

Hurriedly getting out of bed and picking up her clothes that were strewn across the floor, she went to tell Dana that she was going to go to work, but the other woman was nowhere to be found even though her tennis bag and her keys were still there.

"Where is she?" Lara wondered aloud, walking down the stairs to the front door.

She didn't really have time to wait for Dana to return from wherever she was, having already overslept and needing to go home to pick up her things for work and to take a quick shower, so she decided to go, giving Mr. Piddles a quick cuddle before she left.

--

"What happened to you?" Simon asked as Lara came rushing through the country club's main entrance. "You look like you ran all the way here from your apartment."

Lara shrugged, looking around the still empty dining area. "I overslept," she answered, slowing down and walking behind the counter.

The waiter followed her. "You overslept?" he wondered, his curiousity obviously peaked.

The redhead nodded, checking the menu for the day.

Simon giggled. "I wonder why?" he teased. "Was there a certain tennis player involved?"

Lara growled, blushing slightly. She really wasn't in the mood to be teased when all she wanted to do was to go home to get some more sleep. "I really don't wanna talk right now," she said, looking up at her friend all of a sudden.

"Is everything okay?" Simon asked, sounding worried.

Lara nodded, smiling a brief smile. "Yeah, I'm just tired."

Returning the smile, Simon retreated from the counter. "Okay, I'm going to let you do your job now," he said. "Though next time you should stay at home after having fun with your girl the night before."

The words caused the chef to blush a deep crimson and she shook her head at her friend, chuckling to herself.

--

Another morning came. It was thursday, her free day, and Lara had decided to go and talk to Dana, not having been able to even see her girlfriend since waking up without Dana next to her the morning before, due to having to work the whole day. The sous chef wanted Dana to realize that her female ejaculation wasn't a bad thing, she wanted her girlfriend to know that it really hadn't changed her feelings.

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at scoobz87: Thanks for the review. I hope you'll keep reading.

at WolfgalX: I'm sorry about your computer. Glad it's working again. You seem to have a thing for combining words, huh? Swuffy? Fute?

at kickboxing.gurl: I don't recall Lara being embarrassed in chapter nineteen, but you're right anyway. I'll keep it in mind, I promise.

at Aqua Bubbles: Yes, she is and I still think they should have had a scene like that in the show...

at SuperGirl06: That wasn't my intention really, the flashbacks I mean, but I do think that Lara, Alice and Shane did get along really well...off screen.

at auggy1984: Thanks again.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter twenty-one: Sharing a shower**

The redhead sat in her car parked in The Planet's parking lot. Dana's car was there, so she figured Dana was in there, too, having her usual morning coffee before going to practice. Lara didn't quite know why, but all of a sudden she felt nervous, the butterflies were dancing in her stomach. She began twisting the longstemmed rose in her hands. On her way over to The Planet she had passed a florist and she had decided to buy a red rose, the flower of love, to show Dana how she felt about her. Taking one last deep breath, Lara unfastened her seat belt and got out of her car.

-

Walking through the back door into The Planet's patio, the redhead noticed that Dana and her friends hadn't occupied their usual table, but since Dana's car was parked in the parking lot, the brunette had to be there. She spotted her girlfriend at the bar inside where she sat there with Alice and Shane, her back turned towards Lara. Approaching the table, Lara felt her heart starting to beat faster and her palms getting sweaty while she kept nervously twirling the rose in her hand. Suddenly Alice and Shane looked her way and gave her warm, welcoming smiles. Returning the smiles with a brief smile of her own, the redhead descended a step to stand behind Dana's chair. Dana, seemingly unaware of her girlfriend's presence, slowly turned around in her chair and looked very surprised to see the other woman there. Lara couldn't help but smile at Dana's cute, apologetic look that appeared on her face after a few seconds, her heart filling with love, warming her from inside out. The two women continued to look at each other, Lara holding out the rose to Dana, Dana seemingly not knowing what to do.  
"This is where you take the flower," Alice finally whispered, causing the athlete to turn her head. Lara's smile broadened when Dana turned back towards her, took the rose and pulled her into a hug, whispering "I'm sorry.", before kissing her neck. The sous chef closed her eyes, enjoying the close contact with her girlfriend as the embrace continued.  
"So fucking cute," she heard Shane say in her usual raspy voice.  
"Yuck!" Alice answered, apparently trying to sound disgusted, but Lara knew that the blonde was only joking. Shane chuckled lowly. "Hey, Al, how about we give those two lovebirds some privacy to talk things through?" she suggested when Lara and Dana pulled away from each other ever so slightly.  
"But, Shane, I..." the blonde tried to protest, but was dragged away by Shane.  
Dana watched them sit down at another table and sighed. When she turned around again, Lara could see she was uncomfortable. "So, how are you this morning?" the redhead asked to lighten the mood, causing the smaller woman to sigh again.  
The brunette avoided her girlfriend's eyes and began toying with the beautiful red rose, gesturing Lara to sit down. The chef sat in the chair previously occupied by Alice and kept looking at the other woman who refused to look up. "Lara, we need to talk," the tennis player finally said, locking her eyes with the taller woman's. The redhead simply nodded, waiting for Dana to begin.  
"I've been such an idiot, Lara," the athlete started, her voice serious. "I shouldn't have left you just like that when you fell asleep, but, you know, I was so embarrassed and I didn't know what had happened to me. I thought, heck, I don't even know what I thought." Dana shook her head. "I just needed to get a clear head, you know, so I went to take a walk, but when I came back home, you had already left and then you didn't call and I thought that you, umm, that you didn't want to see me again. God, Lara, I had no idea that what you had caused in me was something so insanely hot..." she finished, turning her eyes to the floor once again.  
Lara smiled. So she had been right about Dana's sexual naivety. She reached over and touched Dana's free hand, causing the other woman to look at her with a somewhat scared look in her blue eyes. Lara's gaze softened at that. "You don't have to be afraid, Dana, I'm not mad at you," she said, her voice gentle. "Like I already told you, it's perfectly natural and it didn't change my feelings for you"  
"So you're not gonna leave me?" the tennis player asked, sounding uncertain, her uncertainty showing in her eyes.  
"No, I'm not gonna leave," the sous chef said, her voice becoming flirtatious. "In fact, I'm planning on sticking around for a long time"  
Dana blushed at this, sighing in relief. "Really?"  
"Mmmh, yes," Lara said, moving closer to her girlfriend.  
"Oh, no, I'm damned," the athlete joked, pulling the other woman into another hug.  
"So damned," Lara whispered into the smaller woman's ear.  
"Alright, enough cuteness for the day, you two," Alice interrupted, trying to get their attention.  
"You're just jealous, Al," Dana said, letting go of Lara. Alice stuck her tongue out at the brunette and sat down next to Lara. "No, I am not jealous," she said, looking from Dana to Lara. "Okay, maybe I am just a little jealous." Dana grinned and took Lara's hand into hers, obviously wanting to tease her friend. Alice grimaced and sighed. "Alright, okay, I am jealous of you two, but who wouldn't be? You're just so cute, so in love and so fucking happy." She sighed. "I wish I'd seen you first," the blonde said directed at the chef.  
"Don't you dare, Alice," Dana warned, pulling her girlfriend into her direction.  
Lara smiled at that little outburst of jealousy and continued to watch the two best friends' banter.  
"Oh, don't worry, Dana, I'm not gonna steal Lara away from you," Alice reassured the brunette, holding up her hands in defence. "Alright, lovebirds, I gotta go to work. See you later"  
"Bye, Al," Dana and Lara said in unison, watching the journalist walk off. "Do you have to train today?" the sous chef wondered when Alice was out of their sight.  
Dana nodded, seeming disappointed. "Yeah, I have to, unfortunately. Today's your free day, right?"

"Yeah, today's my free day."  
"Well, you know, I could always skip training..." the athlete suggested, her eyes shining brightly.  
Lara felt the desire welling up in her stomach at the suggestion, but shook it off. "No, you shouldn't. We can see each other later"  
"Alright, I'll come by tonight," Dana said in defeat. Then she looked around the room before giving her girlfriend a short kiss on the lips. "I'll see you then," she said, pulling away and getting up.  
"I can't wait," the chef replied with a smile, causing the athlete to blush. Lara watched the tennis player leave and found herself with nothing to do that morning, so she decided to stay at The Planet a little while longer.

--

Letting the apartment door fall into its lock, Lara smiled a proud smile to herself. She had accomplished her mission, Dana had realized that a female ejaculation was far from a threat to their relationship. Slipping out of her shoes, Lara moved through her apartment, finding herself with nothing to do. Just as she was about to slump onto the couch, she noticed the blinking light on her answering machine.  
"Let's see who called," she whispered to herself, pressing a button.  
"Hey, this is Lara. I'm not at home right now. So please leave a message after the beep and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Bye." Smiling at her own voice, Lara sat on the couch, waiting for the message.  
"Hi, Lara, it's, uh, it's me." Dana's voice brought an even broader smile to the chef's lips. "I know I already said that, but I just felt like I had to do it again. I'm so sorry for running away from you like that instead of staying calm and believing your words when you said that it was nothing to be ashamed of. I know that now and I wish I had known the other morning when it happened. Would have caused less trouble, huh? And maybe a little more of what caused me to have this fema..." Suddenly Dana's voice stopped. "Uh, I gotta go right now. Conrad's coming, you know, my agent. So I guess I'll see you tonight. Bye, baby."  
Lara couldn't help but giggle at her girlfriend's cuteness. "My sweet, sweet Dana," she said to herself, undoing her ponytail and running a hand through her unruly red hair.  
Once again finding herself with nothing to do, Lara decided to watch TV and reached for the remote that hadn't disappeared this time.

-

Having long gone from watching TV to reading, since there really hadn't been anything that had caught her interest, Lara jumped at the sound of the doorbell. Not bothering to take off her reading glasses, the redhead went to the door.  
"Who is this?" she asked into the intercom.  
"Hi, it's me, Dana," came the reply.

"What are you doing here this early? Aren't you supposed to be training?" Lara asked with a smile, a little startled at the voice of her girlfriend.  
"Well, if you don't want me here, I can always go back there," Dana answered, teasing.  
The chef shook her head. "Of course I want you to be here," she said. "I'll let you in." Lara grinned and pressed another button to let Dana in. It didn't take long until there was a soft knock on her apartment door, signalizing the athlete had arrived.  
Lara opened the door and was greeted by the sight of her girlfriend, still dressed in her tennis dress, her hair slightly messed, although kept in a ponytail, her skin still sweaty and her veins popping.  
"Hey, you're early," Lara greeted the other woman, finding the way she looked after a hard workout simply irresistible. Didn't you say something about seeing me tonight?"  
"Yeah, I did, but I just couldn't wait to see you," Dana answered. "I ended training a little earlier than usual just to be with you"  
"First your call and now this. Am I supposed to feel honoured or what?" the chef joked, raising her brows.  
Dana shook her head. "No, you're supposed to give me a kiss and let me in"  
"Oh, yeah? Who says so?" Lara asked playfully, smiling a bright smile.  
"I do," Dana told her, grinning.  
"Well, in that case..." the redhead said before giving Dana the kiss she had asked for. "Come in"  
The tennis player followed her girlfriend into the living room where both women sat down on the couch. "Did I already tell you how cute you look with these glasses?" she asked.  
"No, you didn't."  
"Oh, then it's about time I do, isn't it?," the athlete wondered, her voice playful. "You look very cute, Lara."  
Lara raised her brows again. "You're just saying that to get me into bed"  
Dana blushed a little. "Is it working"  
"No, not at all," the chef chuckled. "Are you expecting me to get all hot and horny by telling me I'm cute?" Dana blushed even more. "Uh, well, could've worked, right?"  
Lara chuckled, shaking her head. "No, it doesn't work that way, Dana. You know, puppies, kittens and other baby animals are cute. The woman you're wanting to have sex with isn't."  
"But you look cute with your glasses," Dana protested with a pout. "Am I supposed to lie or what?"  
Lara chuckled once again. "No, you're not supposed to lie," she said, taking in the other woman's appearance. "Then what am I supposed to do to make you wanna sleep with me?" the tennis player asked, sounding somewhat frustrated.  
The sous chef grinned. "As if you wouldn't know that," she said. "It's not like we never had sex before."  
The other woman sighed, running a hand over her still sweaty forehead. "But I don't know."  
Wondering whether Dana was just acting or if she really didn't know, Lara decided to play along. "So what? You want a lesson in the art of seduction now?"  
Dana's broad smile told Lara that her cluelessness was just an act. "So you want that lesson now?" the redhead asked again, her voice becoming flirtatious.  
The athlete's blue eyes sparkled. "I guess I need one, don't I?"  
Lara didn't say anything in return. Instead she leaned back into the couch and gazed at the other woman, deciding to let Dana have the lesson she seemed to be demanding. She knew it would be a very easy task to do since Dana being all sweaty and dressed in a sexy white tennis dress was a major turn on and Lara found herself unable not to think about having sex with the tennis player.  
"You look so sexy, Dana," the chef said, keeping her voice low. "You make me want you so much."  
A blush crept up Dana's face at the words and she smiled a shy smile. "Do you have any idea how fucking hot you look when you blush?" Lara asked, moving closer to the other woman, her eyes closed. Dana giggled, turning her eyes away for a second. "That's what I was supposed to say?" "Yeah, something along those lines," Lara answered, feeling a warm tingly feeling in her stomach. "You think you can do that?"  
Reestablishing their intense eyes contact and tilting her head to the right, Dana smiled. "Do you want me to give it a try?"  
"Why don't you?" The sous chef returned the smile. "Let's see how good you are at the art of seduction"  
"Okay," the athlete said, a grin on her lips. "About that seducing...", she began, while Lara kept watching her intently.

"What about it?" the redhead asked hoarsly. "You're not scared all of a sudden now, are you"  
"No, I'm not. It's just, umm, I'd, uh, I'd like to take a shower first. You know, I came here right after training."  
The chef grinned, her eyes shining brightly. She could already imagine having sex in the shower-something she'd never done before, but had always been curious about. "Fine," she said, pulling Dana up as she stood from the couch. "We'll take that together." With that she began to make her way towards the bathroom, dragging the tennis player along with her. Once there, she turned around and smiled at the smaller woman.  
"I'm not gonna run away this time, Lara. I promise," the athlete said, grinning and pulling her girlfriend into a loving hug.  
"I wouldn't let you anyway," Lara answered and began nuzzling the other woman's neck, trailing soft kisses all over the skin. She could feel Dana's heartbeat quickening. "Do you like this, Dana?" she asked in between kisses.  
"Hmm...it feels nice," Dana managed to get out, her breathing quickening into a soft pant.  
The chef continued her assault on her girlfriend's neck, wrapping her arms around the other woman and pulling her closer. Dana threw her head back and moaned her approval, moving her hands under Lara's t-shirt. The feeling of Dana's fingernails running up and down her back caused the redhead to sigh lowly, Dana's hands setting her skin on fire. Slowly, Dana moved Lara's shirt up and pulled it over her head, tossing it to the floor carelessly.  
"God, you are so beautiful," the tennis player commented, her eyes trailing up and down the taller woman's body.  
They slowly undressed each other. With each piece of clothing that was removed, exposing more and more of each other's bodies to one another, Lara felt her desire increase. She wanted to feel Dana, needed her touch and Dana willingly complied, slowly but surely driving the redhead insane with lust.  
"You are so fucking hot, Lara," the brunette whispered into the chef's ear, her voice husky and laced with heat. The pure sound of her voice made Lara shiver with anticipation.  
"See, that's making me want you now. I knew you could do it," the redhead commented, letting her hands run all over the other woman's back.  
Dana growled. "Oh, just be quiet now"  
Once they were both naked, Dana took Lara by the hand and pulled her into the shower. The two women stared at each other, admiring the other's body with shining eyes. The sous chef smiled, taking her girlfriend's head into her hands before kissing her passionately. They explored each other's mouths with their tongues, their bodies rubbing together, building their desire. Without breaking the liplock, Lara reached behind Dana and turned on the shower. The hot water made their skin even slicker, increasing the pleasure. "This is incredible," Lara said in a breathy tone, trying to catch her breath after they broke their kiss. Dana smiled. "Yeah, it is, but I can think of something that would be even more incredible, Lara," she said seductively.  
"What is that?" Lara asked, panting.  
The athlete didn't respond. Giving Lara one last seductive grin, she dropped to her knees right in front of the redhead.  
"Oh, fuck..." Lara gasped, throwing her head back, when Dana grabbed her by the hips and began nuzzling her stomach, running her tongue all over the soft skin. The brunette pushed her girlfriend back against the shower tiles, causing her to gasp loudly when her hot skin came into contact with the cool tiles. "Please, Dana..." the sous chef moaned, already close to the edge. "I can't take much more." The tennis player placed one last kiss on the flat of Lara's stomach before she ran her tongue southwards, focusing her attention on the part of her girlfriend's body that needed it the most.

-

Lara's head rested on Dana's shoulder as the two women stood in the shower, holding each other close, enjoying the feeling of the hot water running over their bodies. Her legs were still a little wobbly from her orgasm, so she was thankful for the embrace. Dana ran one hand up and down her back, while placing soft kisses on her neck once in a while. "I thought I was going to seduce you," the chef whispered softly, her forehead still resting on the other woman's shoulder.  
Dana chuckled lowly. "You did, Lara."  
"Yeah, I know, but I thought I'd get to do you."  
The athlete smiled. "Didn't you enjoy it?" she asked, kissing Lara's earlobe.  
The chef sighed contentedly. "Of course I did," she mumbled.  
"Then what are you complaining about?" the tennis player asked, chuckling lightly.  
"Nothing," was all that Lara said, tightening the embrace a little.

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at WolfgalX: Have you ever tried writing before? Maybe you're good at it. But you're right Simon won't leave Lara alone. He'll be around for a long time :D

at kickboxing.gurl: Thank you. And if I'm being honest I kinda missed it, too, so here's the next part.

at SuperGirl06: Maybe I could write her cuter, I don't know. Do you want me to try? I miss Lara, too, so much. Thank you, I'm trying to keep this as much according to the actual storyline as I can.


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